FAA looks to require black boxes record 25 hours of data

(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. will move to require new planes to be equipped with cockpit voice recorders, or CVRs, to capture 25 hours of information. The move will help prevent critical data from be over written after an incident in which the plane keeps flying more than two hours.

The proposed rule, announced by the Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday, comes after a slew of close calls earlier this year involving commercial flights.

Current regulations require CVRs, commonly referred to as black boxes, to tape for at least two hours at a time and then new data begins to overwrite the previous recording.

The new rule, if enacted, would require certain newly manufactured aircraft — including commercial planes — to have CVRs that record 25 hours of information.

“This rule will give us substantially more data to identify the causes of incidents and help prevent them in the future,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said.

CVR data is not available in at least six of the close calls involving commercial planes in the U.S. being investigated by the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board.

The public will have 60 days to comment on the rule after it’s entered into the Federal Register. If enacted, the requirement would go into effect one year after the final rule publishes.

The NTSB has been pushing for this requirement since 2018.

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