CASA intends to develop rules and standards that will address basic requirements for the issuance of operational approvals for the use of portable EFBs by air transport (passenger carrying) operators. Comprehensive guidance material will be developed to support the new standards along with guidance material for other users of portable EFBs.

Issue

The paperless cockpit has become a reality with the advent of the latest technological developments in commercial off the shelf (COTS) electronic tablets. Tablets such as Apple’s Ipad, and other similar devices, loaded with purpose designed software are now being offered to the aviation industry for use by pilots as portable electronic flight bags (EFBs).

In response to this development, a decision by the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Operations Panel was recently undertaken to reconvene the EFB Subgroup (EFBSG). This was necessary because the Operations Panel recognised that ICAO’s current EFB Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs), including the supporting guidance material (GM), has been made obsolete by the latest tablet technology.

Consequently, CASA recently participated in an EFBSG meeting in Montreal. The Subgroup has been tasked with the development of high-level SARPs and detailed GM that will address basic requirements for the issuance of operational approvals for EFBs by the State of the Operator. It is intended that the work will be completed by the end of June 2012.

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