“This is a recording” will have more meaning to accident investigators if the FAA enacts a proposal to beef up rules regarding cockpit voice recorders (CVRs) and flight data recorders (FDRs). The rules, proposed primarily in response to NTSB recommendations, would not mandate the installation of CVRs or FDRs in aircraft not already required to have them. Instead, operators of in-service aircraft already required to have a CVR or FDR would have to replace them with updated units that do not rely on magnetic tape for data storage.
Cockpit voice recorders are currently required on all multi-engine turbine-powered airplanes and rotorcraft requiring two pilots that are configured with six or more passenger seats. In addition to CVRs, flight data recorders will continue to be required on any commercially operated multi-engine turbine-powered airplanes and rotorcraft requiring two pilots and with 10 or more passenger seats.
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