,i #aacth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,h4 ,r4 #eccg ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,july #ca1 #bjad ,mr4 ,duncan of ,tennessee 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,price of ,north ,carolina1 and ,mr4 ,pascrell7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,transportation and ,infrastructure ,a ,,bill ,to direct the ,administrator of the ,federal ,aviation ,administration to issue regulations to improve flight recorder and aircraft crash location requirements on certain commercial passenger aircraft in accordance with new ,international ,civil ,aviation ,organization flight recorder standards4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,safe ,aviation and ,flight ,enhancement ,act of #bjad4 #b4 ,findings ,congress finds the following3 7#a7 ,whereas in #bjab the ,international ,civil ,aviation ,organization 7,,icao7 adopted a standard requiring all new aircraft with a maximum certificated take-off mass over #ae1jjj kilograms for which a type certificate is issued on or after #a ,january1 #bjaf1 and which are required to be equipped with both a digital flight recorder 7referred to in this ,act as ,,fdr71 and a cockpit voice recorder 7,,cvr71 to be equipped with #b combination ,,fdr_/,,cvr recorder systems4 7#b7 ,it is in the public's best interest that the second combination ,,fdr_/,,cvr system installed under the new ,,icao standard uses a deployable combination ,,fdr_/,,cvr_/,emergency ,locator ,transmitter 7,,elt7 system to3 maximize survivability2 prevent the need for underwater recovery of both black boxes in water incidents2 improve timely location of the aircraft1 accident site and survivors2 and to ensure rapid recovery of the ,,fdr_/,,cvr data for timely safety and security analysis in all crash scenarios4 7#c7 ,deployable recorder systems combine an ,,fdr1 a ,,cvr1 and ,,elt into one crash hardened1 survivable black box1 which releases from the aircraft upon crash impact with land1 water1 and in the event of in-air explosion1 enabling it to avoid the crash impact site and float indefinitely on water to avoid time-consuming and costly underwater search efforts4 7#d7 ,deployable ,,fdr_/,,cvr_/,,elt black boxes send a distress alert tracking signal to the free1 global constellation of ,search and ,rescue 7,,sar7 satellite transponders known as ,,cospas-,,sarsat2 providing the position of the aircraft at point of impact1 aircraft tail number1 country of origin1 and location of the deployable ,,fdr_/,,cvr_/,,elt black box for quick recovery and analysis4 7#e7 ,recent commercial aviation accidents exemplify a growing trend in difficult and costly underwater aircraft ,,cvr_/,,fdr location and recovery efforts3 7,a7 ,march #h1 #bjad1 ,malaysia ,airlines ,flight #cgj1 disappeared with #bci passengers and crew4 ,international search and recovery efforts for the aircraft and black boxes are ongoing involving #bi nations and hundreds of millions of dollars in resources1 estimated to result in the most expensive search and recovery mission in aviation history4 7,b7 ,june #a1 #bjji1 ,air ,france ,flight #ddg1 crashed into the ,atlantic ,ocean with #baf passengers and #ab crew members4 ,despite locating aircraft wreckage within #e days1 it still took nearly two years and an estimated cost of over #afj1jjj1jjj to recover the ,,fdr and ,,cvr from the bottom of the ,atlantic ,ocean at a depth of #ab1jjj feet4 7,c7 ,june #cj1 #bjji1 ,yemenia ,airlines ,,iy#fbf1 crashed off of the coast of ,comoros1 with #aeb passengers and aircrew4 ,the sole survivor1 a #ab-year-old girl1 was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for thirteen hours4 ,her accounts estimated #cj to #dj passengers survived the crash but succumbed to hypothermia due to the delay in locating the downed aircraft4 ,the ,,fdr and ,,cvr were not recovered until nearly two months later1 at a depth of #c1ijj feet4 7,d7 ,january #a1 #bjjg1 ,adam ,air ,flight #egd1 carrying #ajb passengers and aircrew crashed off the coast of ,indonesia4 ,the ,,fdr and ,,cvr were located nearly one month later1 but could not be recovered until seven months later on due to the difficulty of the underwater environment4 ,the ,,fdr and ,,cvr were found at a depth of #f1fjj feet and #d1fjj feet apart4 7#f7 ,countries with extensive search and rescue capabilities1 such as ,australia1 ,brazil1 ,canada1 ,denmark1 ,japan1 ,norway1 ,united ,kingdom1 and the ,united ,states1 have equipped military platforms1 including commercial equivalent aircraft with automatic deployable black box technology4 7#g7 ,following the crash of ,air ,france ,flight #ddg1 the ,french ,bureau d',enqutes et d',analyses 7,,bea7 led the ,international ,flight ,data ,recovery ,working ,group1 consisting of over #ajj safety experts1 that scored deployable ,,fdr_/,,cvr_/,,elt systems the highest among all evaluated technologies to improve aircraft and black box localization and recovery4 7#h7 ,there are no recurring service_/data fees associated with the use of deployable ,,fdr_/,,cvr_/,,elt systems4 ,the ,,cospas-,,sarsat satellites1 network and supporting infrastructure that receives the alert signal from the deployable ,,fdr_/,,cvr_/,,elt with the aircraft crash location and black box location is a free1 global safety service managed by governments around the world4 7#i7 ,in accordance with ,public ,law #aaj-ec1 7,implementing ,recommendations of the #i_/aa ,commission ,act of #bjjg71 the ,transportation ,security ,administration conducted a pilot program that successfully tested in concept1 the ability of automatic deployable recorder systems to improve rapid access to flight data following commercial aviation crashes1 while also providing localization of downed aircraft and potential survivors4 #c4 ,regulations requiring deployable recorders and other purposes 7a7 ,regulations ,not later than #a year after the date of enactment of this ,act1 the ,administrator of the ,federal ,aviation ,administration shall issue regulations that require all commercial passenger aircraft defined under this ,act be equipped with a deployable recorder system as the second combination ,,fdr_/,,cvr recorder system installed under ,international ,civil ,aviation ,organization ,annex #f1 ,part ,i1 ,amendment #ce--f4c4d4e4b ,combination ,recorders4 7b7 ,schedule for compliance ,the regulations under subsection 7a7 shall require the installation of the automatic deployable recorder system required under this section on commercial aircraft that are ordered by an air carrier on or after ,january #a1 #bjaf4 7c7 ,definitions ,in this ,act1 the following definitions apply3 7#a7 ,commercial aircraft ,the term commercial passenger aircraft means a jet aircraft with a maximum certificated take-off mass over #ae1jjj kilograms1 and which are required to be equipped with #b combination ,,fdr_/,,cvr recorder systems in accordance with ,,icao ,annex #f1 ,part ,i1 ,amendment #f4c4d4e4b4 7#b7 ,deployable recorder system ,the term deployable recorder system means a flight data recorder1 cockpit voice recorder1 and emergency locator transmitter housed in one crash protected1 floatable unit that meets the performance specifications for a ,deployable ,recorder system under ,united ,states ,federal ,aviation ,administration ,technical ,standard ,order #abc;c 7,,cvr71 ,technical ,standard ,order #abd;c 7,,fdr71 and ,minimum ,operational ,performance ,specifications for ,deployable ,recorders under ,,eurocae ,,ed-#aab;,a and all subsequent updates to such requirements4