New Guidelines for Preflight CVR Testing

The FAA recently issued revised guidance for daily preflight checks of cockpit voice recorders to ensure that the system is functioning properly. The new guidelines stem from NTSB recommendations made more than two years ago. According to the Safety Board, “Numerous accident investigation reports have revealed findings of poor or inoperative CVR functionality due to failure of one or more audio channels, degraded audio fidelity and broken tape loops and drives.” The FAA’s voluntary guidelines can be downloaded from www.faa.gov/avr/afs/notices/8000/N8000-292.doc.