NTSB and voice recorders

[pilotdiscretion]

I'm pretty sure that the recordings are stolen and released without approval from the NTSB. I know for a fact that the NTSB only issues the written transcript.

I have been in the room that the NTSB uses to transcribe CVR recordings.

The audio is only played through headsets and never speakers.

The room is sterile. The only paper you take in is given to you by the NTSB and is collected when you walk out. You can't leave with personal notes to give the media.

The walls are made from some sort of special CIA type material that prevents radio transmissions so nobody can transmit out and nobody can spy into the room.

During an investigation the tapes are stored in a vault that very few people have access to.

The audio does not leak from the NTSB during an investigation. Never has and never will since the new laws went into effect.