Safety Notice: Some Aspen PFDs Are Rebooting in Flight
FAA issues a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin to alert pilots
The FAA has issued a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) to alert pilots to a potential problem with the Aspen Evolution PFD. The FAA said the condition doesn't currently warrant an Airworthiness Directive, and it offered suggestions to avoid the problem.
After numerous pilots reported that their Evolution Flight Displays (the EFD1000; EFD100 Multi-Function Display; and EFD500 MFD) rebooted in flight, with about a minute of loss of signal on the display while the system reset itself. The FAA cautioned that an aircraft with multiple Aspen displays, the issue could result in "loss of all altitude and airspeed reference during the reset period."
The problem, the SAIB said, appears to be related to the ADS-Binterface, and the FAA recommended that operators suspend night and IFR operations until the problem has been straightened out. It also suggested that operators disable their ADS-B In (FIS-B) function by pulling the circuit breaker. It also requested that other operators who have experienced similar failures report the event to the FAA.
Aspen is reportedly working on an update and a fix.
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