The National Transportation Safety Board has advised the Federal Aviation Administration to require 25-hour recordings in all new aircraft operating under Part 91, 121, 125 and 135, setting the stage for the FAA’s recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, released in late 2023.
Following the Koby Bryant helicopter accident, the NTSB republished its recommendation for crash-survivable video recorders. The NTSB was aware of the Appareo Vision 1000 system which includes video, audio and AHRS data on an easily installed system with robust playback features. This system allowed investigators to identify contributing factors in a previous fatal accident by analyzing data on a close-call event. We applaud Airbus helicopters and other manufacturers for making systems like the Appareo Vision 1000 standard equipment in their aircraft and encourage others to follow their example.
While the goal of collecting more post-crash flight data is critical to enhancing aviation safety, the recommended rule requires costly equipment certification that does not encourage the adoption of the technology by legacy aircraft. Although expanding CVR capacity utilizing digital recording seems uncomplicated, the breadth of stringent certification requirements for crash-survivable recorders, including the survivability of the underwater beacon, is expansive.
The large number of legacy aircraft, and certainly those not required to have recorders, is a major concern. A cost-effective solution is necessary for greater usage across many fleet types. Although this solution may not be certified, many systems have demonstrated some level of existing crash survivability with options for hardened recorder options.
Although a fully integrated recorder system with comprehensive parameter capture is advantageous, simple onboard systems can provide highly usable safety data. Moreover, the improvements in wireless downloading and near real-time application playback allow for easy flight debriefing and critiquing.
Recorders are vital to effective and complete accident forensics. However, using recorded data on a routine basis can be a key component to safety assurance and better anomaly diagnostics. Further, voluntarily submitting Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA) or flight data monitoring data to the Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS) for aggregation and analysis yields tremendous insight through trending and correlation with other safety reporting.
CREW PRIVACY CONCERNS
The adoption of recorders has been met with significant opposition from the aircrew community, which cites privacy concerns. It should be noted that the NTSB has rigid CVR playback (“audition”) policies that have satisfactorily addressed data security and privacy concerns. Likewise, flight departments can and must institute data privacy protocols, much like an effective FOQA program.
ACSF recommends:
- All aircraft manufacturers standardize equipping flight data recorders on every aircraft. The devices’ mass availability will encourage more operators to use them.
- Aircraft operators and owners voluntarily equip legacy aircraft with flight recorders to aid safety analysis after incidents and accidents occur. In addition to the benefits to the safety community, using an effective FOQA or FDM program will yield improvements in flight training and potential operational cost savings.
- Aviation insurers encourage the use of flight recorders and financially incentivize operators to equip low-cost recorders
