Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC
The US Federal Aviation Administration will require upgraded flight data recorders (FDRs) on newer Boeing 737s, a year sooner than previously ordered. In the light of the recent report on the 1994 US Airways Boeing 737 crash near Pittsburgh, in which rudder hardover was a suspected factor, the FAA is impatient to include 737 rudder behaviour parameters in FDRs.
Two years ago, the FAA required all US commercial passenger transport operators to upgrade their 11 parameter FDRs, to a minimum of 17 by August 2001. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), however, said its investigation of the Pittsburgh crash showed an urgent need for FDRs, with at least four additional parameters covering the rudder.
FAA Administrator Jane Garvey, at a NTSB-sponsored symposium on FDRs and cockpit voice recorders (CVRs) this month, proposed that newer 737s must have the upgraded FDRs by August next year, while older 737s must adhere to the August 2001 deadline.
Garvey is also proposing an increase in the 30min recording time required on CVRs to 2h and that a 10min integral FDR/cockpit data recorder power supply should be incorporated by 1 January, 2005.
The FAA is proposing that aircraft built after 1 January, 2003, have combination voice and cockpit data recording systems. One unit would be close to the cockpit, the other would be at the rear.
Source: Flight International
