Veritastech Pilot Academy

FAA Sets 25-hour Cockpit Voice Recorder Standard for New Aircraft

The FAA published a finalized rule Monday that extends required cockpit voice recorder retention from two hours to 25 hours. This new requirement will apply to newly manufactured aircraft already subject to CVR equipage requirements.

The rule, first proposed in 2023, is intended to preserve additional flight deck audio for incident and accident investigations and aligns U.S. requirements more closely with existing international standards, the final rule said.

The FAA said in its final rule that the change “provides accident investigators, aircraft operators, and civil aviation authorities with substantially more CVR data to help determine the probable causes of incidents and accidents and prevent future incidents and accidents.”

Regulators cited investigative needs raised by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which has recommended longer-duration CVRs after multiple events where relevant recordings were overwritten under a two-hour loop.

The rule notes that 25 hours is within current recorder capability and references prior adoption of similar standards by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for certain newly manufactured aircraft.

The rule adopts multiple compliance dates across part 91, 121, 125 and 135 operations, with thresholds based on passenger seating and maximum certificated takeoff weight.

Aircraft built on or after May 16, 2025 that are operating under part 121 or that are configured as transport category aircraft type-certificated with 30 or more passenger seats, are required to have a 25-hour CVR meeting TSO-C123c or later. The May 16, 2025 compliance date originated in the 2024 FAA Reauthorization Act, which imposed a statutory requirement on covered aircraft that took effect regardless of when the FAA finalized conforming regulations.

New aircraft with 29 or fewer passenger seats and an MCTOW of 59,525 pounds (27,000 kg) or more will need to comply beginning Feb. 2, 2027, while aircraft at 59,524 pounds (26,999 kg) or less will need to comply by Feb. 2, 2029.

While the 2024 FAA Reauthorization Act imposed a 25-hour CVR requirement on large, covered aircraft, the FAA’s final rule extends the standard to additional CVR-equipped aircraft, aligns federal regulations with the statute and establishes compliance timelines where Congress did not.

The FAA estimated the incremental cost difference between comparable 2-hour and 25-hour units at up to about $5,209 per aircraft, in 2024 dollars.

Scroll to Top