Congressman Mark DeSaulnier is pushing to get cockpit voice recorder (CVR) data saved after a string of air carrier close calls at SFO this year. "From a public safety perspective, this is unacceptable, and I am concerned that we are missing opportunities to learn from all of the facts when safety issues arise," DeSaulnier wrote to FAA Administrator Michael Huerta last month. DeSaulnier's district is close to San Francisco International, where an Air Canada A320 on approach to 28R lined up on a parallel taxiway in July. The A320's landing gear narrowly missed several full aircraft parked on the taxiway awaiting takeoff. Another Air Canada jet missed repeated calls from the tower to go around at San Francisco in October. In both cases, CVR data was not required to be preserved, leaving commentators and policymakers to speculate about the relative contributions of fatigue, non-sterile cockpits and other factors.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/news/congressman-wants-cvr-saved-in-close-calls