Graham Warwick/ATLANTA
LORAL DATA Systems has received US and European certification for its Fairchild A200S solid-state cockpit-voice recorder (CVR). The Sarasota, Florida-based company believes the A200S to be the first 2h-capacity CVR to meet the latest Eurocae ED-56A certification standard.
The ED-56A sets new requirements for CVR voice quality, and recorders meeting this standard will be compulsory on all new aircraft delivered to European operators after March 1997, when the JAR 1 joint-airworthiness regulation is due to take effect, says Loral.
The US Federal Aviation Administration is planning an upgraded TSO-C123A-certification standard for CVRs, equivalent to the ED-56A, which will introduce the requirement for a 1h fire test at 1,100¡C, up from the present 30min. Loral says that the A200S has already passed the extended fire-survivability test.
ED-56A is the first CVR certification standard to require testing for voice quality. The requirement calls for high-quality voice recording for the first 30min, then "standard quality" for the rest of the time where standard quality is defined as that provided by the previous-generation A100A CVR, Loral says.
Deliveries of the A200S began in June, against orders for some 240 systems, and the unit is already in service on the Fokker 70 regional jet. Boeing began flight-testing the CVR on a 767 in mid-August, with tests on the 747-400 and 777 to follow. Airbus is expected to begin flight tests in September. The 30min-capacity A200S has been selected by Lockheed Martin for the C-130J Hercules 2 airlifter, says Loral.
Source: Flight International
