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 airworthiness of FDR systems, including how to conduct annual checks of every FDR parameter. Paragraph 3.2(c) states that "a complete flight from the FDR should be examined in engineering units to evaluate the validity of all recorded parameters." In addition, paragraph 3.2(d) states that "the readout facility should have the necessary software to accurately convert the recorded values to engineering units and to determine the status of discrete signals."

1.18.8 Special Airport Criteria and Designation

On October 19, 1996, Delta Air Lines flight 554, a McDonnell Douglas MD-88, N914DL, struck the approach light structure at the end of the runway deck during the approach to land on runway 13 at LaGuardia Airport in Flushing, New York. IMC conditions prevailed for the ILS DME approach. None of the two flight crewmembers and three flight attendants were injured, but 3 of the 58 passengers received minor injuries. The airplane sustained substantial damage.

According to the first officer of the flight, the approach to runway 13 requires landing over water, a 250-foot DH, and an offset localizer, and the approach to the opposite direction runway (31) requires maneuvering an airplane at high bank angles close to the ground. However, LaGuardia was not designated by the FAA as a special airport under 14 CFR Section 121.445. That section, titled "Pilot in command airport qualification: Special areas and airports," states the following:

(a) The [FAA] Administrator may determine that certain airports (due to items such as surrounding terrain, obstructions, or complex approach or departure procedures) are special airports requiring special airport qualifications and that certain areas or routes, or both, require a special type of navigation qualification. (b) ...no certificate holder may use any person, nor may any person serve, as pilot in command to or from an airport determined to require special airport qualifications unless, within the preceding 12 calendar months: (1) The pilot in command or second in command has made an entry to that airport (including a takeoff and landing) while serving as a pilot flight crewmember; or (2) The pilot in command has qualified by using pictorial means acceptable to the Administrator for that airport.

The Safety Board's investigation of the accident concluded, among other things, that the FAA's guidance on special airports was not sufficiently specific about criteria and