IRImplementing rule
IAM.GEN.VCA.195Preservation, production, protection and use of recorder recordings
(a)Following an accident, a serious incident or an occurrence identified by the investigating authority, the IAM operator shall preserve the original recorded data of the recorder, carried in the VCA in accordance with Subpart D of this Annex, for a period of 60 days or until otherwise directed by the investigating authority.
(b)The IAM operator shall conduct operational checks and evaluations of the recordings to ensure the continued serviceability of the recorder.
(c)The IAM operator shall ensure that the recordings of flight parameters required to be recorded on a recorder are preserved. For the purpose of testing and maintaining the recorder, up to 1 hour of the oldest recorded material at the time of testing may be erased.
(d)The IAM operator shall keep and maintain up to date the documentation that contains the necessary information to convert raw flight data into flight parameters expressed in engineering units.
(e)The IAM operator shall make available any recording of the recorder that has been preserved, if so determined by the competent authority.
(f)Without prejudice to Regulation (EU) No 996/2010 and Regulation (EU) 2016/679:
(1)except for ensuring the serviceability of a recorder, audio recordings shall not be disclosed or used unless all the following conditions are fulfilled:
(i)a procedure related to the handling of such audio recordings and of their transcript is in place;
(ii)all pilots and maintenance personnel concerned have given their prior consent;
(iii)such audio recordings are used only for maintaining or improving safety;
(2)when inspecting the audio recordings of a recorder to ensure the serviceability of that recorder, the IAM operator shall protect the privacy of those audio recordings and make sure that they are not disclosed or used for purposes other than for ensuring the serviceability of the recorder;
(3)flight parameters recorded by a recorder shall not be used for purposes other than for the investigation of an accident or an incident which is subject to mandatory reporting, unless such recordings meet any of the following conditions:
(i)are used by the IAM operator for airworthiness or maintenance purposes only;
(ii)are de-identified;
(iii)are disclosed under secure procedures;
(4)except for ensuring the serviceability of a recorder, recorded images of the flight crew compartment shall not be disclosed or used unless all the following conditions are fulfilled:
(i)a procedure related to the handling of such image recordings is in place;
(ii)all pilots and maintenance personnel concerned have given their prior consent;
(iii)such image recordings are used only for maintaining or improving safety;
(5)when images of the flight crew compartment, recorded by a recorder, are inspected for ensuring the serviceability of that recorder, then:
(i)those images shall not be disclosed or used for purposes other than for ensuring the serviceability of the recorder;
(ii)if body parts of pilots or passengers are likely to be visible on the images, the operator shall ensure the privacy of those images.
IR · IAM.GEN.VCA.195 — Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 · Regulation (EU) 2024/1111 · Air OPS Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 27 Mar 2026