NCC.GEN.145 Handling of flight recorder recordings: preservation, production, protection and use

(a) Following an accident, a serious incident or an occurrence identified by the investigating authority, the operator of an aircraft shall preserve the original recorded data of the flight recorders for a period of 60 days or until otherwise directed by the investigating authority.

(b) The operator shall conduct operational checks and evaluations of recordings to ensure the continued serviceability of the flight recorders which are required to be carried.

(c) The operator shall ensure that the recordings of flight parameters and data link communication messages required to be recorded on flight recorders are preserved. However, for the purpose of testing and maintaining those flight recorders, up to 1 hour of the oldest recorded data at the time of testing may be erased.

(d) The operator shall keep and maintain up to date documentation that presents the necessary information to convert raw flight data into flight parameters expressed in engineering units.

(e) The operator shall make available any flight recorder recordings that have been preserved, if so determined by the CAA .

(f) Without prejudice to Regulations (EU) No 996/2010 and (EU) 2016/679:

(1) Except for ensuring flight recorder serviceability, audio recordings from a flight recorder shall not be disclosed or used unless all of the following conditions are fulfilled:

(i) a procedure related to the handling of such audio recordings and of their transcript is in place;

(ii) all crew members and maintenance personnel concerned have given their prior consent;

(iii) such audio recordings are used only for maintaining or improving safety.

(1a) When flight recorder audio recordings are inspected for ensuring flight recorder serviceability, the operator shall protect the privacy of those audio recordings and make sure that they are not disclosed or used for purposes other than ensuring flight recorder serviceability.

(2) Flight parameters or data link messages recorded by a flight recorder shall not be used for purposes other than for the investigation of an accident or an incident which is subject to mandatory reporting, unless such recordings meet any of the following conditions:

(i) are used by the operator for airworthiness or maintenance purposes only;

(ii) are de-identified;

(iii) are disclosed under secure procedures.

(3) Except for ensuring flight recorder serviceability, images of the flight crew compartment that are recorded by a flight recorder shall not be disclosed or used unless all the following conditions are fulfilled:

(i) a procedure related to the handling of such image recordings is in place;

(ii) all crew members and maintenance personnel concerned have given their prior consent;

(iii) such image recordings are used only for maintaining or improving safety.

(3a) When images of the flight crew compartment that are recorded by a flight recorder are inspected for ensuring the serviceability of the flight recorder, then:

(i) those images shall not be disclosed or used for purposes other than for ensuring flight recorder serviceability;

(ii) if body parts of crew members are likely to be visible on the images, the operator shall ensure the privacy of those images.