AMC1 27.1458 Lightweight flight recorder

(a)     General

The recorder installed to meet CS 27.1458(a) should be granted an ETSO authorisation in accordance with the following ETSOs or be compliant with at least one of the following standards: ETSO-2C197, ETSO C124b, ETSO C176 (or equivalent standards accepted by EASA).

In demonstrating compliance with CS 27.1458, the applicant should take into account EUROCAE Document ED-155 ‘MOPS for Lightweight Flight Recording Systems’ or EUROCAE Document ED-112 ‘MOPS for Crash Protected Airborne Recorder Systems’ or later revisions of these documents.

‘Flight recorder system’ refers to the lightweight flight recorder and its dedicated equipment. It may include the following items as appropriate to the rotorcraft:

(1)     The equipment necessary to:

(i)      acquire and process sensor signals;

(ii)     store the recorded data in a robust recording medium; and

(iii)     when necessary, support dedicated sensors; and

(2)     Digital data buses and/or networks providing communications between elements of the system.

The lightweight flight recorder should receive its electric power from the bus that provides the maximum reliability for operation of the recorder without jeopardising supply to load circuits essential for safe operations.

The height, width and depth of the recording medium container of the lightweight flight recorder should be at least 4 cm (1.5 inches).

(b)     Installation of the flight recorder system

The flight recorder system should be installed in accordance with the recommendations made in EUROCAE Document ED-155 Section 2-5.3.

The recording medium container should be located and mounted in accordance with the specifications given in EUROCAE Document ED-155 Sections 2-5.4 and 2-5.5.

(c)      Evaluation of recordings

The following acceptable means of compliance with CS 27.1458 (a), (d) and (e) is provided to demonstrate that the performance of the installed flight recorder system is acceptable with regard to data recording. Inspections of the recordings that are part of the instructions for continued airworthiness are not within the scope of this paragraph.

(1)     A recording made during a flight should be evaluated to confirm that the recording of the data required by Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 is acceptable during all phases of flight where this data should be recorded. In the case of image recordings, refer to Section III-6.4 of ED-155.

(2)     The evaluation of the recordings from the flight should include:

(i)      checking the correct functioning of the automatic start-and-stop function of the flight recorder system; and

(ii)     if the recorder is fitted with a built-in-test feature, checking the absence of faults that may affect the performance of the recorder.

(3)     The evaluation of the recordings should be documented in an evaluation report.

(4)     The performance of the flight recorder system with regard to data recording should be considered to be acceptable only if sub-paragraphs (c)(1) and (c)(2) of this AMC were satisfactorily addressed.

(5)     It is accepted that by implementing emergency procedures (i.e. for smoke/fire isolation) the power supply to the lightweight recorder is cut off.

(d)     Image and audio recordings of the flight crew area

If there are no compartments to physically segregate the flight crew from the passengers, the term ‘flight crew area’ in CS 27.1458 should be understood as the area including:

—                   the flight crew seat(s),

—                   windshield and windows used by the flight crew to get an external view while seated,

—                   aircraft instruments and controls, and

—                   circuit breakers accessible by the flight crew while seated.

(e)     Instructions for continued airworthiness (ICA)

When developing the ICA for the flight recorder system, required by CS 27.1529 and Appendix A, the applicant should address all the failures that may affect the performance of the flight recorder system or the quality of the data required to be recorded by Regulation (EU) No 965/2012.

Examples of failures (indicative and non-exhaustive list):

—                   Loss of the recording function of the lightweight flight recorder;

—                   Any data required by Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 is missing, or is not correctly recorded;

—                   Failure of the automatic start-and-stop function.

The ICA should include the procedures to be followed for retrieving the data required to be recorded by the lightweight flight recorder when it is undamaged.

In addition, if the lightweight flight recorder records some required flight parameters as digital data, the ICA should include a document that presents the information necessary to retrieve the raw binary data of these flight parameters from a recording file and to convert this data into engineering units and textual interpretations. If the lightweight flight recorder records some required flight parameters by means of images, the ICA should include a document that presents the information necessary to read the flight parameter values from the recorded images.

[Amdt 27/10]