SPO.IDE.H.146 Lightweight flight recorder

SI No. 1290/2024

Text in magenta in force from 30 October 2025

1. Turbine-engined helicopters with an MCTOM of 2250 kg or more shall be equipped with a flight recorder if all the following conditions are met:

   1. they are not within the scope of point SPO.IDE.H.145(a);

   2. they are used for commercial operations;

   3. they are first issued with an individual CofA on or after 5 September 2022.

2. The flight recorder shall record, by means of flight data or images, information that is sufficient to determine the flight path and aircraft speed.

3. The flight recorder shall be capable of retaining the flight data and the images recorded during at least the preceding 5 hours.

4. The flight recorder shall automatically start to record prior to the helicopter being capable of moving under its own power and shall stop automatically after the helicopter is no longer capable of moving under its own power.

5. If the flight recorder records images or audio of the flight crew compartment, then a function shall be provided which can be operated by the pilot-in-command and which modifies image and audio recordings made before the operation of that function, so that those recordings cannot be retrieved using normal replay or copying techniques.