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

FMI: www.garmin.com, www.cessna.com