NPA 2018-02

Provision of airworthiness requirements in support of global performance-based navigation operations

This Notice of Proposed Amendment (NPA) addresses efficiency, proportionality and safety issues related to those aircraft whose airworthiness must be certified in order to perform global performance-based navigation (PBN) operations. 

This NPA contains an update of the Certification Specifications for Airborne Communications, Navigation and Surveillance (CS-ACNS), which primarily incorporates the certification criteria related to the use of airworthiness and interoperability standards in support of performance-based navigation (PBN) implementation, as well as other minor amendments to the requirements published in Decision 2013/031/R. In particular, the main intent of this NPA is to propose new sections in Subpart C ‘Navigation’ (NAV), which is currently reserved.  

The new sections are specifically dedicated to support global PBN operations and provide clear requirements in Book 1, as well as acceptable means of compliance (AMC) and guidance material (GM) in Book 2. These additions ensure conformity with the performance requirements and functionalities that stem from ICAO’s RNP navigation specifications, i.e. RNP 4, RNP 2, RNP 1, advanced RNP (A-RNP), RNP approach (RNP APCH), RNP authorisation required (RNP AR), and RNP 0.3. 

The specific objective is to provide a certification basis that will allow aircraft operators to benefit from the implementation of PBN routes and procedures. The proposed amendments are also expected to facilitate global PBN objectives and to simplify the certification process for both the applicants and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). 

Following the publication of Regulation (EU) 2016/1199, EASA published in 2016 a number of ED Decisions that transposed all PBN operational approval requirements from the AMC-20 material into the AMC/GM to Regulation (EU) No 965/2012. As the EASA’s proposal incorporates all the PBN certification requirements into a single certification specification (CS), this NPA proposes to cancel AMC 20-4A, AMC 20-5,  AMC 20-12, AMC 20-26, AMC 20-27A and AMC 20-28 for new applications. As regards RNAV 1, JAA TGL 10  Rev 1 will cease to be recognised by EASA for type certification after the publication of the updated CS-ACNS.