A-00-031
NTSB Safety Recommendation — Aviation
Recommendation text
TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Require that all aircraft manufactured after January 1, 2003, operated under title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121, 125, or 135 and required to be equipped with a cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and digital flight data recorder (DFDR) also be equipped with two crash-protected cockpit image recording systems. The cockpit image recorder systems should have a 2-hour recording duration, as a minimum, and be capable of recording, in color, a view of the entire cockpit including each control position and each action (such as display selections or system activations) taken by people in the cockpit. The recording of these video images should be at a frame rate and resolution sufficient for capturing such actions. One recorder should be located as close to the cockpit as practicable and the other as far aft as practicable. These recorders should be equipped with independent auxiliary power supplies that automatically engage and provide 10 minutes of operation whenever aircraft power to the cockpit image recorders and associated cockpit camera systems ceases, either by normal shutdown or by a loss of power to the bus. The circuit breaker for the cockpit image recorder systems, as well as the circuit breakers for the CVR's and the DFDR's, should not be accessible to the flight crew during flight. (Superseded by Safety Recommendations A-15-6 and A-15-8)
In plain language (FlightFinder summary)
The Federal Aviation Administration is asked to require that aircraft manufactured after January 1, 2003, and operating under specific Part 121, 125, or 135 rules, which already need cockpit voice and digital flight data recorders, also be equipped with two crash-protected cockpit image recording systems. These systems must record color video of the entire cockpit for at least two hours, showing control positions and actions, with one recorder near the cockpit and the other far aft, each with an independent auxiliary power supply that automatically provides 10 minutes of operation after aircraft power loss. The circuit breakers for these image recorders, as well as for the cockpit voice and data recorders, must be inaccessible to the flight crew during flight.
This plain-language summary is written by FlightFinder to explain the recommendation above. It is not the official wording — the verbatim NTSB text is quoted above.
Details
| Status | Closed - Unacceptable Action/Superseded |
|---|---|
| Mode | Aviation |
| Closed | Jan 22, 2015 |
| NTSB number | DCA89IA071 |
| Addressees | FAA |
External links
NTSB safety recommendations are advisory; addressees are not legally required to adopt them. Source: NTSB CAROL (public domain).