US NTSB recommends video flight recorders for certain turboprop aircraft

Airline Industry Information, Feb 25, 2000

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2000 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recommended to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that some commercial turboprop aircraft be equipped with video flight recorders.

The recommendation arises from an investigation into the crash of a Scenic Airlines Cessna 208B aircraft on 8 October 1997. The aircraft was leased by the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Reclamation and the crash killed the pilot and eight employees.

Although a cause for the accident has been determined, which included pilot error in handling the aircraft, the NTSB maintains that the investigation was hampered by the lack of flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorder information. Perhaps improving on the latter two devices, a video recorder could capture instrument readings, cockpit control settings and pilot actions.

The ability of video recorders to capture instrument readings has been questioned by Scenic Airlines, who also claims that the installation of the recorders would be prohibitively expensive.

The NTSB has said that the video recorders could be installed on commercial passenger turboprop aircraft within five years if the recommendation is adopted by the FAA, which now has three months in which to consider the proposal according to the Associated Press.

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