Following the panel loss incident on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet, U.S. authorities revealed that the cockpit voice recorder data was overwritten, drawing attention to the ongoing industry plea for longer in-flight recordings.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chair Jennifer Homendy disclosed on Sunday that no data was available on the cockpit voice recorder as it was not retrieved within two hours, leading to the erasure of previous data. In the U.S., cockpit voice recorders are mandated to log two hours of data, contrasting with the 25-hour requirement in Europe for planes manufactured post-2021.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has advocated for 25-hour recording since 2016, specifically for planes manufactured from 2021 onwards.
Homendy highlighted the chaotic nature of the incident, stating, “There was a lot going on, on the flight deck and on the plane. It’s a very chaotic event. The circuit breaker for the CVR (cockpit voice recorder) was not pulled. The maintenance team went out to get it, but it was right at about the two-hour mark.” The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder were sent to NTSB labs on Sunday, but no voice data was retrievable.
The NTSB has consistently urged the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to extend the recording duration to 25 hours. While the FAA recently proposed the extension to 25 hours, it currently applies only to new aircraft. Homendy called on the FAA to reconsider, advocating for retrofits of 25-hour recorders in existing aircraft, not solely for new planes.