Originally Posted by
tdracer
Problem is, the rule would probably only apply to 'new build' aircraft. Although it's gotten cheaper and easier to retrofit CVR boxes since everything's gone digital, it's still expensive.
There are still lots of aircraft out there flying around with tape based CVR/FDR equipment.
At least every plane in the 121 world has a two hour CVR. FAR 121.359 was changed in March of 2008 to require any plane manufactured on or after April 7th 2010 to have a 2 hour CVR. If the plane was manufactured prior to April 7th 2010 it had to have a 2 hour CVR by April 7th of 2012. And EASA does requires any plane built in the last two years with a Max TO weight above 27 tonnes to have a 25 hour CVR so there have to be some out there. So if the NTSB can push the FAA hard enough we might have them in a few years.