Airworthiness DirectiveEASA AD US-2020-03-20

Superseded by FAA AD 2025-02-07

Published: Feb 18, 2020
Effective: Feb 18, 2020
Deadline: Feb 18, 2020

AI-generated summary of the official EASA document. Verify against the PDF before acting.

What to do

Operators of affected Boeing aircraft must revise their airplane flight manuals to include the new limitation prohibiting operations requiring less than 0.3 RNP within the specified region. This action is effective immediately as of February 18, 2020. Stakeholders should monitor for future FAA rulemaking related to the anticipated Collins software update that will address the unsafe condition more comprehensively.

Summary

FAA Airworthiness Directive 2020-03-20 is a final rule addressing certain Boeing aircraft models including MD-11, MD-11F, 717-200, all 737-8 and 737-9, all 737-600/-700/-700C/-800/-900/-900ER series, certain 747-400 and 747-400F, certain 757 and 767, and all 777 airplanes. This directive requires revising the airplane flight manual to prohibit operations requiring less than 0.3 required navigational performance (RNP) within a specified geographic area for airplanes equipped with a Collins GLU-2100 multi-mode receiver (MMR) with certain software versions. The AD was issued due to reports of loss or degradation of GPS data affecting positional accuracy.

What changed

This new airworthiness directive mandates an update to the airplane flight manual to include operational limitations restricting use of less than 0.3 RNP in a defined region for affected aircraft with specific MMR software. It introduces a safety measure to mitigate GPS positional errors caused by software mapping issues in the Collins GLU-2100 MMR. The AD is considered interim pending a forthcoming software update from Collins.

Why it matters

This AD is critical for aviation professionals as it addresses a GPS positional error that could lead to loss of navigation data or degraded accuracy, potentially resulting in controlled flight into terrain during high-precision approaches. Operators and maintenance teams must ensure compliance to maintain safe navigation performance and avoid operational risks in the affected geographic area. It highlights the importance of software configuration management and timely manual updates for avionics systems.

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