The US Federal Aviation Administration is seeking a compromise over the US National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) recommended schedule for retrofitting Boeing 737s with enhanced flight-data recorders (FDR).
The NTSB proposal would require US airlines to install improved FDR on more than 4,000 aircraft by the end of 1997. FDR on nearly 800 Boeing 737s would need to be upgraded by December this year. The NTSB says that each installation would cost $20,000-70,000.
The US Air Transport Association says that the work is impossible by the proposed deadlines. It costs the overall job at $658 million, or $158,000 an aircraft. The FAA also challenges the time-scale, but backs the NTSB case.
Source: Flight International
