NTSB SUBMITS COMMENT ON FAA’S PROPOSED 25-HOUR COCKPIT VOICE RECORDER REQUIREMENT
March 14, 2024
The National Transportation Safety Board (“NTSB”) recently submitted a comment to the FAA’s NPRM requiring the installation of 25-hour duration cockpit voice recorders (“CVRs”) on all newly manufactured aircraft operating under 14 CFR Parts 91, 121, 125, and 135. While the NPRM would increase the CVRs recording time from the currently mandated two hours, the NTSB noted that it cannot fully support the proposed rule given that it does not propose a similar requirement to retrofit existing aircraft which are required to carry a CVR. Citing safety concerns and the investigative value of CVR data in accident investigations, the NTSB expressed disappointment that the NPRM did not propose a requirement to retrofit existing aircraft. Since the service life of airplanes can exceed 40 years, the NTSB comment cautioned that critical CVR data will be lost if existing airplanes are not equipped with a CVR that records the last 25 hours of aircraft operation.
The NTSB further objected to the NPRM’s excessive costs justification for excluding existing aircraft in the proposed regulations. For instance, the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) overestimated the cost of retrofitting existing aircraft because the retrofit requirement would apply to less than half the number of airplanes the FAA estimates, according to the NTSB. After urging FAA to reconsider its cost/benefit analysis, the NTSB comment further reasons that the 5-year retrofit period provides operators sufficient time to update the CVRs during regular maintenance. When issuing a final rule, NTSB urged the FAA to require a CVR that records the last 25 hours of operations for both newly manufactured aircraft as well as existing airplanes.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr at 202.659.6622 or esahr@eckertseamans.com; Drew Derco at 202-659-6665 or dderco@eckertseamans.com; Jay Julien at 202.659.6648 or jjulien@eckertseamans.com, or any other attorney at Eckert Seamans with whom you have been working.
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