Section 121.344

14 CFR Ch. I (1-1-19 Edition)

section, as appropriate, until the airplane has been operated for at least 25
hours of the operating time specified in
Section 121.359(a). A total of 1 hour of recorded
data may be erased for the purpose of
testing the flight recorder or the flight
recorder system. Any erasure made in
accordance with this paragraph must
be of the oldest recorded data accumulated at the time of testing. Except as
provided in paragraph (i) of this section, no record need be kept more than
60 days.
(i) In the event of an accident or occurrence that requires immediate notification of the National Transportation
Safety Board under part 830 of its regulations and that results in termination
of the flight, the certificate holder
shall remove the recording media from
the airplane and keep the recorded
data required by paragraph (a), (b), (c),
or (d) of this section, as appropriate,
for at least 60 days or for a longer period upon the request of the Board or
the Administrator.
(j) Each flight recorder required by
this section must be installed in accordance with the requirements of
Section 25.1459 of this chapter in effect on August 31, 1977. The correlation required
by Section 25.1459(c) of this chapter need be
established only on one airplane of any
group of airplanes - 
(1) That are of the same type;
(2) On which the model flight recorder and its installation are the
same; and
(3) On which there is no difference in
the type design with respect to the installation of those first pilot-s instruments associated with the flight recorder. The most recent instrument
calibration, including the recording
medium from which this calibration is
derived, and the recorder correlation
must be retained by the certificate
holder.
(k) Each flight recorder required by
this section that records the data specified in paragraph (a), (b), (c), or (d) of
this section, as appropriate, must have
an approved device to assist in locating
that recorder under water.
(l) No person may operate an airplane
specified in paragraph (b) of this section that meets the Stage 2 noise levels
of part 36 of this chapter and is subject
to Section 91.801(c) of this chapter unless it is

equipped with one or more approved
flight data recorders that utilize a digital method of recording and storing
data and a method of readily retrieving
that data from the storage medium.
The information specified in paragraphs (c)(1) through (c)(11) of this section must be able to be determined
within the ranges, accuracies and recording intervals specified in appendix
B of this part. In addition - 
(1) This flight data recorder must be
installed at the next heavy maintenance check after May 26, 1994, but no
later than May 26, 1995. A heavy maintenance check is considered to be any
time an aircraft is scheduled to be out
of service for 4 or more days.
(2) By June 23, 1994, each carrier must
submit to the FAA Flight Standards
Service, Air Transportation Division
(AFS-200), documentation listing those
airplanes covered under this paragraph
and evidence that it has ordered a sufficient number of flight data recorders
to meet the May 26, 1995, compliance
date for all aircraft on that list.
(3) After May 26, 1994, any aircraft
that is modified to meet Stage 3 noise
levels must have the flight data recorder described in paragraph (c) of
this section installed before operating
under this part.
(m) After August 20, 2001, this section
applies only to the airplane models
listed in Section 121.344(l)(2). All other airplanes must comply with the requirements of Section 121.344, as applicable.
[Doc. No. 24418, 52 FR 9636, Mar. 25, 1987, as
amended by Amdt. 121-197, 53 FR 26147, July
11, 1988; Amdt. 121-238, 59 FR 26900, May 24,
1994; Amdt. 121-338, 73 FR 12565, Mar. 7, 2008]

Section 121.344 Digital flight data recorders
for transport category airplanes.
(a) Except as provided in paragraph
(l) of this section, no person may operate under this part a turbine-enginepowered transport category airplane
unless it is equipped with one or more
approved flight recorders that use a
digital method of recording and storing
data and a method of readily retrieving
that data from the storage medium.
The operational parameters required to
be recorded by digital flight data recorders required by this section are as

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