FAA proposes 25-hour 'black box' flight data recorders

Dec. 1 (UPI) -- The Federal Aviation Administration is proposing to expand cockpit voice recording capacity to 25 hours in newly manufactured aircraft. Currently, the recorders only capture 2 hours of data.

The "black boxes" record everything that happens in the cockpit, including the pilots' voices, as well as engine noises, and often are used to investigate what happened in the moments before a crash.

"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.

The FAA pledged to take action on the issue in March 2023 after a Safety Summit, during which more than 200 leaders met to discuss ways to enhance flight safety, including expanding the recording capacity of the black boxes.

The International Civil Aviation Organization and European Union Aviation Safety Agency already require the data recorders to hold 25 hours of information, and if the FAA were to adopt this standard, newly manufactured planes operating in the United States would come in line with that international standard.

The proposed rule will be published in the Federal Register on Monday, and the public will have 60 days to comment before the FAA takes the next step.