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Do we all need ADS-B Out & Mode S by 7th Dec 2020 in Europe?

This was sent to me today by a maintenance organisation, and I had read nothing about it here.
(Mods – Feel free to merge this with any other thread)

https://www.easa.europa.eu/newsroom-and-events/news/amendment-airspace-requirements-ads-b-and-mode-s

Any thoughts on it?

Buying, Selling, Flying
EISG, Ireland

For now, 99% of light GA falls short of those 4.5T & 100kts to get mandatory ADSB-out in Europe?

Paris/Essex, France/UK, United Kingdom

Any thoughts on it?

I read twice and didn’t see any difference between b) and c) i.e. union of b) and c) gives all aircrafts (fixed wing). Or I’m missing something?

LDZA LDVA, Croatia

It’s IMHO ambiguously written, but what is – probably meant – by paragraph c) is “(ALL aircraft that are NOT of the fixed-wing type) AND (which are either heavier than 5.7t OR cruise faster than 250kn)”.

Why couldn’t they have written it more clearly along the lines of “all aircraft require Mode S; all aircraft heavier than … or faster than … require Mode S and ADS-B; all aircraft heavier … or faster … and which are fixed-wing aircraft require Mode S, Mode S ES, and ADS-B”?

EHRD / Rotterdam

I interpret this as such that it means that for IFR flights from 07.12.2020 on
a) every aircraft (exemptions notwithstanding) needs to have a Mode S transponder
b) every fixed-wing that is either over 5.7t MTOM or faster than 250KTAS and newer than 07.07.1995 needs Mode S, Mode S ES and ADS-B out
C) is the same a B for helicopters, airships and the rest of the lot. Those need Mode S and ADS-B out

You get a three year’s exemption provided that you have an upgrade plan and did not already receive EU funds for installing compliant equipment.
Any aircraft that first enters service on or after 07.12.2020 needs to comply from that date on and will not get an exemption.

You are also exempted for maintenance flights, exports or if you plan to have the aircraft decommissioned by 31.10.2025.

EDXN, ETMN, Germany

The problem might be because the future conditional of some verbs which come naturally in the language of Shakespeare, simply don’t exist in some other languages.
But I agree that when something is translated into English it could be expressed much more succinctly and simply, but I doubt very much if a pilot is involved anywhere in the final oversight of the text. Or could it be that the bureaucrats and lawyers that produce the text need it to be ambiguous so as to maintain their jobs into the future?

France

WilliamF wrote:

This was sent to me today by a maintenance organisation, and I had read nothing about it here.

There was a fair bit written about it here in 2016-7 as the IFR mode-S requirement on light aircraft was initially intended to apply from December that year. Then in March that year EASA decided to postpone it to December this year.

Last Edited by Airborne_Again at 19 Jun 08:28
ESKC (Uppsala/Sundbro), Sweden

The intended meaning is obvious, but a comma after “fixed wing” in (c) would make it even more so.

That said, the EASA is not paying attention if it thinks that the greatest safety benefit of ADS-B is in IMC.

It should do for transponders what it did for 8.33 radios – a funded five-year upgrade so that all transponder-equipped aircraft have ADS-B out. The funding could be tapered (say from 80% to 20%) to encourage early adoption.

Edit: But perhaps it is Jacko who is not paying attention if he thinks that the “S” in EASA stands for “safety”.

Last Edited by Jacko at 19 Jun 08:41
Glenswinton, SW Scotland, United Kingdom

I understood this as all aircraft must have mode S elementary from 7th of December (I see nothing here saying about IFR-only aircraft).
5700kg+ or 250KTAS+ should have mode S elementary, ES and ADS-B out.
Helicopters should have mode S elementary, ES and ADS-B out.

EGTR

@arj1 the applicability is described in 1207/2011 article 2 point 2. This concerns only IFR flights.

Otherwise it would impact also sailplanes… and that would be new!

EDMG, Germany
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