If you think the rule about turning off your electronics during takeoff and landing is conservative, try to imagine what it would take to certify a solid-state memory card for use in that application.
Why would doubling or quadrupuling the storage be a problem? Assuming you have the cost of a new chip paid for, I dont see the capacity issue. Or are you saying solid state is incompatible with the engineering parameters of a black box altogether? In that case, the answer is even simpler: just add more of what's already in there.
That's the point, it's not simply a capacity issue. They could plug in a $10 SD card that comes pre-installed to a Nintendo DS and solve the capacity issue.
Rather, it's a certification issue, and the certification process itself is so expensive that you don't simply upgrade every black box every 4 years as storage gets cheaper.
Just to be clear, I mean an actual aero-space chip specifically made for this application. Here is a cost estimate. Its $8K/per, but honestly that's a just a single pair of first class tickets...
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has asked for the installation of cockpit image recorders in large transport aircraft to provide information that would supplement existing CVR and FDR data in accident investigations. They also recommended image recorders be placed into smaller aircraft that are not required to have a CVR or FDR.[4]
Such systems, estimated to cost less than $8,000 installed, typically consist of a camera and microphone located in the cockpit to continuously record cockpit instrumentation, the outside viewing area, engine sounds, radio communications, and ambient cockpit sounds. As with conventional CVRs and FDRs, data from such a system is stored in a crash-protected unit to ensure survivability.[4]
This is correct. Looking at the most recent FAA CVR reg. revision in 2008, which increased the required duration to 2 hours:
"Revisions to Cockpit Voice Recorder and Digital Flight Data Recorder Regulations" [1]
The FAA proposed that all CVRs be able to retain the last two hours of cockpit audio. Both the NTSB and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada noted that the short duration of available cockpit audio hindered the investigation of several accidents.
The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) did not support the proposal to increase CVR recording time because the FAA did not propose any increase in the privacy protections regarding the access and use of information recorded on a CVR. The ALPA stated that existing protections are inadequate despite years of its attempts to change the standard.
That actually sounds fairly legit, especially since the commenter below notes that the union has asked for more privacy protections but not received them. Hadn't realized the policy debate was multi-sided.
Which is worse? A plane goes down and you have too little data because of strict regulations or a plane goes down and you have no data because of loose regulations?
