I didn't see if someone already mentioned this or not, but one thing to consider is that airplanes are incredibly expensive to purchase and operate, aircraft over 20-30years of age are still in heavy use. Not only do airlines have to keep up with routine maintenance and breakdowns but they also receive service bulletins from manufacturers and the FAA to replace/inspect their equipment frequently. Especially in the past 10-15 years airlines have been struggling with price wars, 9/11 and the economy in general. From a pure cost standpoint the industry wouldn't want upgrade their CVR's. They have plenty of other things that money could be spent on to increase performance/safety of airline travel. Take a look at navigation systems on aircraft. The point is CVR's provide a "decent" amount of information when there is an accident, the cost/safety gain is just not worth the investment for an already battered industry. As new aircraft are put in service CVR's will improve...airplanes have a long lifespan no one should be surprised 30 year old equipment is out of date.
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I didn't see if someone already mentioned this or not, but one thing to consider is that airplanes are incredibly expensive to purchase and operate, aircraft over 20-30years of age are still in heavy use. Not only do airlines have to keep up with routine maintenance and breakdowns but they also receive service bulletins from manufacturers and the FAA to replace/inspect their equipment frequently. Especially in the past 10-15 years airlines have been struggling with price wars, 9/11 and the economy in general. From a pure cost standpoint the industry wouldn't want upgrade their CVR's. They have plenty of other things that money could be spent on to increase performance/safety of airline travel. Take a look at navigation systems on aircraft. The point is CVR's provide a "decent" amount of information when there is an accident, the cost/safety gain is just not worth the investment for an already battered industry. As new aircraft are put in service CVR's will improve...airplanes have a long lifespan no one should be surprised 30 year old equipment is out of date.