The ICAO Council adopted new provisions aimed at preventing the loss of commercial aircraft experiencing distress in remote locations.
The UN aviation agency has announced new amendments to Annex 6 to the Chicago Convention (Operation of Aircraft) which will take effect between now and 2021. They relate primarily to:
- The requirement for aircraft to carry autonomous distress tracking devices which can
autonomously transmit location information at least once every minute in distress circumstances.
- The requirement for aircraft to be equipped with a means to have flight recorder data
recovered and made available in a timely manner.
- Extending the duration of cockpit voice recordings to 25 hours so that they cover all phases
of flight for all types of operations.
The provisions relating to one-minute distress tracking are performance-based, meaning that airlines and aircraft manufacturers may consider all available and emerging technologies which can deliver the one-minute location tracking requirement specified.
The new flight recorder data recovery provisions are also performance-based, meaning that related technology solutions may or may not entail the need for deployable flight recorders.
Source: ICAO