The FAA has finalized a rule to equip new aircraft that need cockpit voice recorders to have 25 hours of recording ability effective in 2027. Aircraft built before that date will have to have their current two-hour CVRs replaced with a 25-hour model by the end of 2030. The rule was initially proposed in late 2023 after relentless urging by the NTSB. The board was frustrated when the recordings were overwritten on several high-profile incidents, including a near tragedy in San Francisco when an Air Canada A320 crew lined up for landing on a taxiway filled with wide-body airliners waiting for their turn to take off. The action was mandated by Congress in the FAA Reauthorization passed last year.
While there was almost universal agreement that the move is a good idea, some pilot groups argued the rule “turns a safety tool into a surveillance tool.” They were afraid the recordings could be misused to threaten the privacy rights of pilots. “Current law requires the NTSB to protect the privacy of the data contained on the flight deck voice recordings, but does not prevent airlines or others from disclosing that information, and additional safeguards need to be put into place to keep them from doing so,” the Air Line Pilots Association said in a statement “The pilot community does have concerns about whether the information could be publicly released.”
