Feasibility of Battery Backup for Flight Recorders

On March 9, 1999, the National Transportation Safety issued Recommendations A-99-16 and A-99-17 calling for revisions to the FAA Regulations dealing with Cockpit Voice Recorders and their installation in commercial aircraft. These recommendations read as follows. (1) Require retrofit after January 1, 2005, of all cockpit voice recorders (CVRs) on all airplanes required to carry both a CVR and a flight data recorder (FDR) with a CVR that (a) meets Technical Standard Order (TSO) C123a, (b) is capable of recording the last 2 hours of audio, and (c) is fitted with an independent power source that is located with the digital CVR and that automatically engages and provides 10 minutes of operation whenever aircraft power to the recorder ceases, either by normal shutdown or by a loss of power to the bus (A-99-16). (2) Require all aircraft manufactured after January 1, 2003, that must carry both a cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and a digital flight data recorder (DFDR) to be equipped with two combination (CVR/DFDR) recording systems. One system should be located as close to the cockpit as practicable and the other as far aft as practicable. Both recording systems should be capable of recording all mandatory data parameters covering the previous 25 hours of operation and all cockpit audio including controller–pilot data link messages for the previous 2 hours of operation. The system located near the cockpit should be provided with an independent power source that is located with the combination recorder, and that automatically engages and provides 10 minutes of operation whenever normal aircraft power ceases, either by normal shutdown or by a loss of power to the bus. The aft system should be powered by the bus that provides the maximum reliability for operation without jeopardizing service to essential or emergency loads, whereas the system near the cockpit should be powered by the bus that provides the second highest reliability for operation without jeopardizing service to essential or emergency loads (A-99-17). A key element of these recommendations is the requirement to provide an independent power source which provides 10 minutes of continued operation following the removal of the main aircraft power. This paper will discuss the feasibility of an independent power source for the Flight Data Recorder and the Cockpit Voice Recorder. And in addition, offer two options for complying with the recommended requirement and offer some comparative analysis of the two options.

• Record URL:
  http://www.iasa.com.au/folders/Publications/pdf_library/schofield.pdf
• 
• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  490 L'Enfant Plaza, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20594

  International Transportation Safety Association

  Apeldoorn,   Netherlands 
• Authors:
  • Schofield, Duncan W
• Conference:
  • Transportation Recording: 2000 and Beyond. International Symposium on Transportation Recorders
  • Location: Arlington VA, United States
  • Date: 1999-5-3 to 1999-5-5
• Publication Date: 1999

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 301-306
• Monograph Title: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Transportation Recorders. Transportation Recording: 2000 and Beyond, May 3-5, 1999, Arlington, Virginia

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aviation safety; Civil aircraft; Electric batteries; Electric power supply; Feasibility analysis; Flight recorders
• Uncontrolled Terms: Cockpit voice recorders; Emergency power supply
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Energy; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01088111
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 30 2008 12:31PM