Trends And Current Problems In Aviation: Cockpit Voice And Flight Dat

Problem statementOne of the most scrutinized pieces of evidence gathered from an aircraft accident is the collection of information contained in the Cockpit Voice registrar and Flight information Recorder. CVRs and FDRs paint an often haunting, but frequently useful picture of what occurred during the last minutes of an accident flight. This is not to say, however, that the recorders are always conclusive, or even useful. There are a handful of cases where the CVR and FDR tapes shoot broken, failed to record, stopped recording early, or not captured enough information to be useful to the investigation. Advancements in these devices are not new to the industry however, the pace is slow to incorporate new technology into current fleets. JustificationConcerns contact Cockpit Voice Recorders and Flight Data Recorders stem from all corners of the aviation industry. There are currently five outstanding NTSB recommendations to the FAA regarding the use of and reliability of CVRs and FD Rs. Of these five suggested improvement areas, the FAA has yet to respond to either of them, prompting the NTSB to place the issues on their list of Top 10 Most Wanted Safety Recommendations. Documented cases will be presented in this text where CVRs and FDRs have stopped recording seconds, and even minutes, before an accident. Other cases will examine incidents where the focus shifts to a hypothesis as to what may have been recorded on earlier portions of the tape. Either way, strong cases will be built to justify having CVR and FDR tapes not only record longer, but to record more information as well. Herein, we shall identify existing problem areas, areas where work is ongoing, and areas for which future plans are in existence. These topic areas can be identified as followsFDR and CVR military capability requirements for new aircraftFDR and CVR carriage requirements for existing aircraft (retrofit)Independent power suppliesCockpit video recordingDeployable recordersNTSB recommen dationsBackgroundHistoryFlight information recorders have been in use on commercial aircraft since the 1950s. The FAA requires two CVRs and FDRs to be installed on all aircraft capable of carrying ten or more passengers when u... ... a loss of power would result in 1/3 of the written matter being taped over. A good case is presented for 2 hour-long tapes. As technology speeds into the blue yonder, we can expect to see more innovations in in-flight recordings. genteel aviation has not progressed to the point where video cameras and deployable recorders are viable and reliable devices. Will it ever? We can speculate. For now, the recommendations that lie before the FAA appear sufficient. The current trends and problems surrounding recorders have seemed to be addressed by the Safety Board. It is up to the Feds now. Works CitedFDR/CVR. 2 May 2000. Frostell, Caj. Flight Recorder Carriage Requirements. Online Posting. 2 May 2000. Nordwall, Bruce. Deployable Recorders volunteer Potent ial Boon to Crash Recoveries. IPN International Product News. 20 March 2000. 86-87. Safety Issue Automatic Recording Devices. 2 May 2000. Sight Recorder. 2 May 2000. Chris DahlstrandTrends and Current Problems in Aviation