In a press release issued on Sunday, Era Alaska director of sales and marketing, Steve Smith announced that senior management made a decision on Saturday to ground its fleet so that their aircraft's cockpit voice recorders could be updated to FAA standards.

“Our most important job is ensuring the safety of our passengers,” said Smith. “While this component does not directly impact the overall safety of the aircraft, the CVR is an important required component.” Smith said the airline was working on getting their passengers seats on other airlines or booked on later flights.

According to the report, many of the airlines 12 aircraft would be back online in hours, while some may take days. The airlines operates 12 aircraft, six Bombadier Dash 8s and six Beechcraft 1900s.

Saying that each aircraft would be inspected in cooperation with the FAA after the upgrades are made, Smith said, “That process will not be rushed or compromised. Safety is of utmost importance.”

The outdated Cockpit Flight Recorders were discovered after a September incident where one of Era’s aircraft suffered a sudden drop from 12,000 feet to 7,000 feet during a flight from Anchorage to Homer with 11 passengers onboard. The aircraft returned to Anchorage after the drop occurred. The cause of that sudden loss of altitude on the DeHavilland Canada DHC-8 is still being investigated.