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153 

Federal Aviation Administration, DOT 

§ 121.358 

weather radar, may reasonably be ex-
pected along the route to be flown, un-
less the airborne weather radar equip-
ment is in satisfactory operating con-
dition. 

(2) If the airborne weather radar be-

comes inoperative en route, the air-
plane must be operated in accordance 
with the approved instructions and 
procedures specified in the operations 
manual for such an event. 

(d) This section does not apply to air-

planes used solely within the State of 
Hawaii or within the State of Alaska 
and that part of Canada west of lon-
gitude 130 degrees W, between latitude 
70 degrees N, and latitude 53 degrees N, 
or during any training, test, or ferry 
flight. 

(e) Notwithstanding any other provi-

sion of this chapter, an alternate elec-
trical power supply is not required for 
airborne weather radar equipment. 

[Doc. No. 6258, 29 FR 19205, Dec. 31, 1964, as 
amended by Amdt. 121–18, 31 FR 5825, Apr. 15, 
1966; Amdt. 121–130, 41 FR 47229, Oct. 28, 1976; 
Amdt. 121–251, 60 FR 65932, Dec. 20, 1995] 

§ 121.358 Low-altitude windshear sys-

tem equipment requirements. 

(a) 

Airplanes manufactured after Janu-

ary 2, 1991. 

No person may operate a 

turbine-powered airplane manufac-
tured after January 2, 1991, unless it is 
equipped with either an approved air-
borne windshear warning and flight 
guidance system, an approved airborne 
detection and avoidance system, or an 
approved combination of these sys-
tems. 

(b) 

Airplanes manufactured before Jan-

uary 3, 1991. 

Except as provided in para-

graph (c) of this section, after January 
2, 1991, no person may operate a tur-
bine-powered airplane manufactured 
before January 3, 1991 unless it meets 
one of the following requirements as 
applicable. 

(1) The makes/models/series listed 

below must be equipped with either an 
approved airborne windshear warning 
and flight guidance system, an ap-
proved airborne detection and avoid-
ance system, or an approved combina-
tion of these systems: 

(i) A–300–600; 
(ii) A–310—all series; 
(iii) A–320—all series; 
(iv) B–737–300, 400, and 500 series; 

(v) B–747–400; 
(vi) B–757—all series; 
(vii) B–767—all series; 
(viii) F–100—all series; 
(ix) MD–11—all series; and 
(x) MD–80 series equipped with an 

EFIS and Honeywell-970 digital flight 
guidance computer. 

(2) All other turbine-powered air-

planes not listed above must be 
equipped with as a minimum require-
ment, an approved airborne windshear 
warning system. These airplanes may 
be equipped with an approved airborne 
windshear detection and avoidance sys-
tem, or an approved combination of 
these systems. 

(c) 

Extension of the compliance date. 

certificate holder may obtain an exten-
sion of the compliance date in para-
graph (b) of this section if it obtains 
FAA approval of a retrofit schedule. To 
obtain approval of a retrofit schedule 
and show continued compliance with 
that schedule, a certificate holder must 
do the following: 

(1) Submit a request for approval of a 

retrofit schedule by June 1, 1990, to the 
appropriate Flight Standards division 
manager in the responsible Flight 
Standards office. 

(2) Show that all of the certificate 

holder’s airplanes required to be 
equipped in accordance with this sec-
tion will be equipped by the final com-
pliance date established for TCAS II 
retrofit. 

(3) Comply with its retrofit schedule 

and submit status reports containing 
information acceptable to the Adminis-
trator. The initial report must be sub-
mitted by January 2, 1991, and subse-
quent reports must be submitted every 
six months thereafter until completion 
of the schedule. The reports must be 
submitted to the certificate holder’s 
assigned Principal Avionics Inspector. 

(d) 

Definitions. 

For the purposes of 

this section the following definitions 
apply— 

(1) 

Turbine-powered airplane 

includes, 

e.g., turbofan-, turbojet-, propfan-, and 
ultra-high bypass fan-powered air-
planes. The definition specifically ex-
cludes turbopropeller-powered air-
planes. 

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154 

14 CFR Ch. I (1–1–24 Edition) 

§ 121.359 

(2) An airplane is considered manu-

factured on the date the inspection ac-
ceptance records reflect that the air-
plane is complete and meets the FAA 
Approved Type Design data. 

[Doc. No. 25954, 55 FR 13242, Apr. 9, 1990, as 
amended by Docket FAA–2018–0119, Amdt. 
121–380, 83 FR 9173, Mar. 5, 2018] 

§ 121.359 Cockpit voice recorders. 

(a) No certificate holder may operate 

a large turbine engine powered airplane 
or a large pressurized airplane with 
four reciprocating engines unless an 
approved cockpit voice recorder is in-
stalled in that airplane and is operated 
continuously from the start of the use 
of the checklist (before starting en-
gines for the purpose of flight), to com-
pletion of the final checklist at the ter-
mination of the flight. 

(b) [Reserved] 
(c) The cockpit voice recorder re-

quired by paragraph (a) of this section 
must meet the following application 
standards: 

(1) The requirements of part 25 of this 

chapter in affect on August 31, 1977. 

(2) After September 1, 1980, each re-

corder container must— 

(i) Be either bright orange or bright 

yellow; 

(ii) Have reflective tape affixed to the 

external surface to facilitate its loca-
tion under water; and 

(iii) Have an approved underwater lo-

cating device on or adjacent to the con-
tainer which is secured in such a man-
ner that they are not likely to be sepa-
rated during crash impact, unless the 
cockpit voice recorder, and the flight 
recorder required by § 121.343, are in-
stalled adjacent to each other in such a 
manner that they are not likely to be 
separated during crash impact. 

(d) No person may operate a multien-

gine, turbine-powered airplane having 
a passenger seat configuration of 10–19 
seats unless it is equipped with an ap-
proved cockpit voice recorder that: 

(1) Is installed in compliance with 

§ 23.1457(a)(1) and (2), (b), (c), (d)(1)(i), 
(2) and (3), (e), (f), and (g); or 
§ 25.1457(a)(1) and (2), (b), (c), (d)(1)(i), 
(2) and (3), (e), (f), and (g) of this chap-
ter, as applicable; and 

(2) Is operated continuously from the 

use of the checklist before the flight to 

completion of the final checklist at the 
end of the flight. 

(e) No person may operate a multien-

gine, turbine-powered airplane having 
a passenger seat configuration of 20 to 
30 seats unless it is equipped with an 
approved cockpit voice recorder that— 

(1) Is installed in accordance with the 

requirements of § 23.1457 (except para-
graphs (a)(6), (d)(1)(ii), (4), and (5)) or 
§ 25.1457 (except paragraphs (a)(6), 
(d)(1)(ii), (4), and (5)) of this chapter, as 
applicable; and 

(2) Is operated continuously from the 

use of the checklist before the flight to 
completion of the final checklist at the 
end of the flight. 

(f) In complying with this section, an 

approved cockpit voice recorder having 
an erasure feature may be used, so that 
at any time during the operation of the 
recorder, information recorded more 
than 30 minutes earlier may be erased 
or otherwise obliterated. 

(g) For those aircraft equipped to 

record the uninterrupted audio signals 
received by a boom or a mask micro-
phone, the flight crewmembers are re-
quired to use the boom microphone 
below 18,000 feet mean sea level. No 
person may operate a large turbine en-
gine powered airplane or a large pres-
surized airplane with four recipro-
cating engines manufactured after Oc-
tober 11, 1991, or on which a cockpit 
voice recorder has been installed after 
October 11, 1991, unless it is equipped to 
record the uninterrupted audio signal 
received by a boom or mask micro-
phone in accordance with § 25.1457(c)(5) 
of this chapter. 

(h) In the event of an accident or oc-

currence requiring immediate notifica-
tion of the National Transportation 
Safety Board under 49 CFR part 830 of 
its regulations, which results in the 
termination of the flight, the certifi-
cate holder shall keep the recorded in-
formation for at least 60 days or, if re-
quested by the Administrator or the 
Board, for a longer period. Information 
obtained from the record is used to as-
sist in determining the cause of acci-
dents or occurrences in connection 
with investigations under 49 CFR part 
830. The Administrator does not use the 
record in any civil penalty or certifi-
cate action.