AOPA: FAA Should Allow Sole-Source GPS Navigation for Some Receivers

The U.S. Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) wants the FAA to approve the use of approach-certified GPS receivers as a sole source of navigation.   The general aviation advocacy group put this suggestion on its "wish list" to the FAA, along with additional operations test methods for VOR, and the use of a driver's license medical for recreational pilots.

The FAA currently requires pilots flying in instrument conditions with an IFR approach-certified GPS receiver to have a backup means of navigation in case GPS signals are lost or become unreliable.

But AOPA believes this precaution is no longer needed. "With the significant changes in technology over the past three years, the FAA's regulations need to be updated to allow pilots to fully utilize the advances," said Melissa Rudinger, AOPA's vice president of regulatory affairs. "They also need to take a look at new standards they've established and decide whether older regulations should change."

Ms. Rudinger put AOPA's GPS argument this way: "[W]ith improvements in the GPS satellite signal and stated assurances from the [ U.S.] Department of Transportation that GPS satellite coverage will continue, the requirement for redundancy serves more as a requirement and less to ensure the safety of flight in the event a GPS satellite is providing incorrect information."

According to AOPA, the FAA has already shown its confidence in GPS by approving more than 4,000 WAAS (wide area augmentation system) and stand-alone GPS approaches providing access to more than 2,000 airports.

AOPA suggested that a NOTAM (notice to airmen) be issued when the GPS system is compromised instead of requiring a backup.

Driver's License Medical

AOPA has long lobbied the FAA to allow pilots who exercise recreational pilot privileges to fly with a "driver's license" medical instead of a third class medical certificate in the same way it grants sport pilots that privilege. Recreational pilots would still have to assess whether they are medically fit to fly under FAR (federal air regulation) 61.53.

AOPA points out that, according to the Air Safety Foundation's Accident and Incident database, only 1.9 percent of accidents have any medical factors contributing to the accidents.  Furthermore, the association notes accidents caused by medical incapacitation were not attributable to conditions that could have been uncovered or predicted by a medical examination.

Additional Operational Test Methods for VORs

More than 25 percent of US-registered aircraft are equipped with an IFR-certified GPS receiver, and pilots flying these aircraft should be able to check their VOR (against the GPS receiver to comply with FAR 91.171, which requires a check every 30 days. AOPA also believes that VOR test periods should be extended to match the aircraft's regularly scheduled maintenance interval'a progressive, 100-hour, or annual inspection.

"Allowing pilots and aircraft operators to test a VOR against an IFR-certified GPS unit with a current database may improve the accuracy of the VOR check and may also allow the VOR to be tested more frequently by pilots," Ms. Rudinger wrote. "In cases where an aircraft is equipped with one IFR GPS unit and one VOR, the VOR could be checked on every flight as opposed to waiting to arrive at an airport with a VOR system test signal or test point or checking the VOR against a landmark along a VOR airway while in flight."

AOPA expressed its "wishes" in response to the FAA's recent request for public comments on so-called outdated regulations.  01-21-2008.

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