355 

Federal Aviation Administration, DOT 

§ 125.227 

Safety Board under 49 CFR 830 of its 
regulations and that results in termi-
nation of the flight, the certificate 
holder shall remove the recorder from 
the airplane and keep the recorder data 
prescribed by this section, as appro-
priate, for at least 60 days or for a 
longer period upon the request of the 
Board or the Administrator. 

(j) Each flight data recorder system 

required by this section must be in-
stalled in accordance with the require-
ments of § 25.1459(a) (except paragraphs 
(a)(3)(ii) and (7)), (b), (d) and (e) of this 
chapter. A correlation must be estab-
lished between the values recorded by 
the flight data recorder and the cor-
responding values being measured. The 
correlation must contain a sufficient 
number of correlation points to accu-
rately establish the conversion from 
the recorded values to engineering 
units or discrete state over the full op-
erating range of the parameter. Except 
for airplanes having separate altitude 
and airspeed sensors that are an inte-
gral part of the flight data recorder 
system, a single correlation may be es-
tablished for any group of airplanes— 

(1) That are of the same type; 
(2) On which the flight recorder sys-

tem and its installation are the same; 
and 

(3) On which there is no difference in 

the type design with respect to the in-
stallation of those sensors associated 
with the flight data recorder system. 
Documentation sufficient to convert 
recorded data into the engineering 
units and discrete values specified in 
the applicable appendix must be main-
tained by the certificate holder. 

(k) Each flight data recorder required 

by this section must have an approved 
device to assist in locating that re-
corder under water. 

(l) The following airplanes that were 

manufactured before August 18, 1997 
need not comply with this section, but 
must continue to comply with applica-
ble paragraphs of § 125.225 of this chap-
ter, as appropriate: 

(1) Airplanes that meet the Stage 2 

noise levels of part 36 of this chapter 
and are subject to § 91.801(c) of this 
chapter, until January 1, 2000. On and 
after January 1, 2000, any Stage 2 air-
plane otherwise allowed to be operated 
under Part 91 of this chapter must 

comply with the applicable flight data 
recorder requirements of this section 
for that airplane. 

(2) British Aerospace 1–11, General 

Dynamics Convair 580, General Dynam-
ics Convair 600, General Dynamics 
Convair 640, deHavilland Aircraft Com-
pany Ltd. DHC–7, Fairchild Industries 
FH 227, Fokker F–27 (except Mark 50), 
F–28 Mark 1000 and Mark 4000, Gulf-
stream Aerospace G–159, Jetstream 4100 
Series, Lockheed Aircraft Corporation 
Electra 10–A, Lockheed Aircraft Cor-
poration Electra 10–B, Lockheed Air-
craft Corporation Electra 10–E, Lock-
heed Aircraft Corporation Electra L– 
188, Lockheed Martin Model 382 (L–100) 
Hercules, Maryland Air Industries, Inc. 
F27, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. 
YS–11, Short Bros. Limited SD3–30, 
Short Bros. Limited SD3–60. 

(m) All aircraft subject to the re-

quirements of this section that are 
manufactured on or after April 7, 2010, 
must have a flight data recorder in-
stalled that also— 

(1) Meets the requirements in 

§ 25.1459(a)(3), (a)(7), and (a)(8) of this 
chapter; and 

(2) Retains the 25 hours of recorded 

information required in paragraph (f) 
of this section using a recorder that 
meets the standards of TSO–C124a, or 
later revision. 

(n) In addition to all other applicable 

requirements of this section, all Boeing 
737 model airplanes manufactured after 
August 18, 2000 must record the param-
eters listed in paragraphs (a)(88) 
through (a)(91) of this section within 
the ranges, accuracies, resolutions, and 
recording intervals specified in Appen-
dix E to this part. Compliance with 
this paragraph is required no later 
than February 2, 2011. 

[Doc. No. 28109, 62 FR 38387, July 17, 1997; 62 
FR 48135, Sept. 12, 1997, as amended by Amdt. 
125–42, 68 FR 42937, July 18, 2003; 68 FR 50069, 
Aug. 20, 2003; Amdt. 125–54, 73 FR 12568, Mar. 
7, 2008; Amdt. 125–56, 73 FR 73179, Dec. 2, 2008; 
Amdt. 125–54, 74 FR 32801, 32804, July 9, 2009] 

§ 125.227 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 

356 

14 CFR Ch. I (1–1–24 Edition) 

§ 125.227 

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) Each certificate holder shall es-

tablish a schedule for completion, be-
fore the prescribed dates, of the cock-
pit voice recorder installations re-
quired by paragraph (a) of this section. 
In addition, the certificate holder shall 
identify any airplane specified in para-
graph (a) of this section he intends to 
discontinue using before the prescribed 
dates. 

(c) The cockpit voice recorder re-

quired by this section must also meet 
the following standards: 

(1) The requirements of part 25 of this 

chapter in effect after October 11, 1991. 

(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 it is not likely to be separated 
during crash impact, unless the cockpit 
voice recorder and the flight recorder, 
required by § 125.225 of this chapter, are 
installed adjacent to each other in such 
a manner that they are not likely to be 
separated during crash impact. 

(d) 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. 

(e) 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. 

(f) 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. 

(g) By April 7, 2012, all turbine en-

gine-powered airplanes subject to this 
section that are manufactured before 
April 7, 2010, must have a cockpit voice 
recorder installed that also— 

(1) Meets the requirements of 

§ 25.1457(a)(3), (a)(4), (a)(5), and (d)(6) of 
this chapter; 

(2) Retains at least the last 2 hours of 

recorded information using a recorder 
that meets the standards of TSO–C123a, 
or later revision; and 

(3) Is operated continuously from the 

start of the use of the checklist (before 
starting the engines for the purpose of 
flight), to the completion of the final 
checklist at the termination of the 
flight. 

(h) All turbine engine-powered air-

planes subject to this section that are 
manufactured on or after April 7, 2010, 
must have a cockpit voice recorder in-
stalled that also— 

(1) Is installed in accordance with the 

requirements of § 25.1457 (except for 
paragraph (a)(6)) of this chapter; 

(2) Retains at least the last 2 hours of 

recorded information using a recorder 
that meets the standards of TSO–C123a, 
or later revision; and 

(3) Is operated continuously from the 

start of the use of the checklist (before 
starting the engines for the purpose of 
flight), to the completion of the final 
checklist at the termination of the 
flight. 

(4) For all airplanes manufactured on 

or after December 6, 2010, also meets 
the requirements of § 25.1457(a)(6) of 
this chapter. 

357 

Federal Aviation Administration, DOT 

§ 125.241 

(i) All airplanes required by this part 

to have a cockpit voice recorder and a 
flight data recorder, that install 
datalink communication equipment on 
or after December 6, 2010, must record 
all datalink messages as required by 
the certification rule applicable to the 
airplane. 

[Doc. No. 25530, 53 FR 26149, July 11, 1988, as 
amended by Amdt. 125–54, 73 FR 12568, Mar. 7, 
2008; Amdt. 125–54, 74 FR 32801, July 9, 2009; 
Amdt. 125–60, 75 FR 17046; Apr. 5, 2010] 

§ 125.228 Flight data recorders: fil-

tered data. 

(a) A flight data signal is filtered 

when an original sensor signal has been 
changed in any way, other than 
changes necessary to: 

(1) Accomplish analog to digital con-

version of the signal; 

(2) Format a digital signal to be 

DFDR compatible; or 

(3) Eliminate a high frequency com-

ponent of a signal that is outside the 
operational bandwidth of the sensor. 

(b) An original sensor signal for any 

flight recorder parameter required to 
be recorded under § 125.226 may be fil-
tered only if the recorded signal value 
continues to meet the requirements of 
Appendix D or E of this part, as appli-
cable. 

(c) For a parameter described in 

§ 125.226(a) (12) through (17), (42), or (88), 
or the corresponding parameter in Ap-
pendix D of this part, if the recorded 
signal value is filtered and does not 
meet the requirements of Appendix D 
or E of this part, as applicable, the cer-
tificate holder must: 

(1) Remove the filtering and ensure 

that the recorded signal value meets 
the requirements of Appendix D or E of 
this part, as applicable; or 

(2) Demonstrate by test and analysis 

that the original sensor signal value 
can be reconstructed from the recorded 
data. This demonstration requires 
that: 

(i) The FAA determine that the pro-

cedure and the test results submitted 
by the certificate holder as its compli-
ance with paragraph (c)(2) of this sec-
tion are repeatable; and 

(ii) The certificate holder maintains 

documentation of the procedure re-
quired to reconstruct the original sen-
sor signal value. This documentation is 

also subject to the requirements of 
§ 125.226(i). 

(d) 

Compliance. 

Compliance is re-

quired as follows: 

(1) No later than October 20, 2011, 

each operator must determine, for each 
airplane it operates, whether the air-
plane’s DFDR system is filtering any of 
the parameters listed in paragraph (c) 
of this section. The operator must cre-
ate a record of this determination for 
each airplane it operates, and maintain 
it as part of the correlation docu-
mentation required by § 125.226(j)(3) of 
this part. 

(2) For airplanes that are not fil-

tering any listed parameter, no further 
action is required unless the airplane’s 
DFDR system is modified in a manner 
that would cause it to meet the defini-
tion of filtering on any listed param-
eter. 

(3) For airplanes found to be filtering 

a parameter listed in paragraph (c) of 
this section, the operator must either: 

(i) No later than April 21, 2014, re-

move the filtering; or 

(ii) No later than April 22, 2013, sub-

mit the necessary procedure and test 
results required by paragraph (c)(2) of 
this section. 

(4) After April 21, 2014, no aircraft 

flight data recording system may filter 
any parameter listed in paragraph (c) 
of this section that does not meet the 
requirements of Appendix D or E of 
this part, unless the certificate holder 
possesses test and analysis procedures 
and the test results that have been ap-
proved by the FAA. All records of 
tests, analysis and procedures used to 
comply with this section must be 
maintained as part of the correlation 
documentation required by 
§ 125.226(j)(3) of this part. 

[Doc. No. FAA–2006–26135, 75 FR 7356, Feb. 19, 
2010] 

Subpart G—Maintenance 

§ 125.241 Applicability. 

This subpart prescribes rules, in addi-

tion to those prescribed in other parts 
of this chapter, for the maintenance of 
airplanes, airframes, aircraft engines, 
propellers, appliances, each item of 
survival and emergency equipment, 
and their component parts operated 
under this part.