CASA has approved a second electronic flight bag (EFB) for use as a primary source of navigation data.
AvPlan from Melbourne company AvSoft received their approval under CAR 223 1(h) this week, making it a second EFB to be approved after the OzRunways system.
"What this means is that you now can use AvPlan EFB as a replacement for paper maps, ERSA, DAP, AIP and AIP SUP," said AvSoft's Bevan Anderson. "You now can use AvPlan EFB in the cockpit and do not need to carry paper copies of these documents.
However, Civil Aviation Advisory Publication 223 advises private operators to carry a back-up system should your iPad fail in flight. It is a caution that Anderson supports.
"We strongly recommend carrying a back-up for your iPad when using AvPlan EFB in the cockpit. CASA recommends in CAAP 233 that you carry a backup for your EFB, and we cannot recommend enough that this is followed."
The back-up can be an EFB on another iPad or iPhone, or paper copies of the documents required for the flight. To facilitate this, AvPlan has altered their licence to enable the software to be installed on up to three devices.