Tue, Aug 14, 2007
Pilots Must Rely On Standby Attitude Indicator Inflight
In response to inquiries regarding Columbia Aircraft's announcement late
Monday night the planemaker was halting production,
due to the reported lack of critical avionics components needed to
finish the aircraft... Garmin confirmed to ANN the avionics
manufacturer has stopped shipments of its GRS 77 AHRS (Attitude
Heading Reference System,) used in the manufacturer's popular G1000
glass panel avionics system.
"Garmin recently observed a sudden increase in failure rates
during aircraft manufacturer product flight tests of new GRS 77
AHRS (Attitude Heading Reference System) units used in G1000
installations," the company tells ANN. "Internal system monitors
detect the component failure in the GRS 77 that results in a
continual "red-x" of attitude information on the Primary Flight
Display.
"After communication with Garmin's OEM partners and the FAA, it
was determined that in all G1000 installations, continued safe
flight can be conducted with the standby attitude indicator and
other available instruments. If pilots should experience a failure
of the GRS 77 AHRS, they should follow standard procedures and
refer to the standby attitude indicator."
Garmin is publishing a
Service Advisory to the field, and states it is "aggressively"
working with suppliers and OEM partners to resolve the issue and
resume deliveries. Other functions of the PFD -- HSI, airspeed, VSI
-- remain operational if there is an AHRS failure.
The G1000 avionics system is widely used in several general
aviation aircraft, including Cessna single-engine piston aircraft
and the Citation Mustang light jet. Cessna tells ANN it has
temporarily halted piston aircraft deliveries while it
awaits a fix for the AHRS issue, but unlike Columbia plans to
continue production.
ANN will continue to follow this story closely, and report as
new information becomes available
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