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Current State of US Domestic En Route CPDLC for General & Business Aviation
The NOTAM limiting GA/BA participation in US Domestic En Route CPDLC for non-Trial participants is in effect and will remain in effect until the color-coded Domestic En Route CPDLC Participation List is completed (more information on that below). Until this NOTAM is removed, please refrain from filing as eligible for US Domestic En Route CPDLC unless you are an approved Trial participant.
FDC 3/5163 - ..AIRSPACE SPECIAL NOTICE..GA AND BUSINESS AVIATION
ACFT ARE PROHIBITED FM USING EN ROUTE CPDLC EXC APPROVED TRIAL
PARTICIPANTS. CPDLC DEP CLR OPS ARE STILL PERMITTED. ALL GA AND
BUSINESS ACFT, EXC TRIAL PARTICIPANTS, MUST MODIFY FLT PLAN FIELD 18
DATA CODE TO REMOVE EN ROUTE CPDLC IMMEDIATELY. FURTHER INFO CTC
DCIT -AT- L3HARRIS.COM. 26 SEP 16:52 2023 UNTIL 22 SEP 23:59 2024.
CREATED: 26 SEP 16:56 2023
What are we waiting for?
In short, we await the Domestic En Route CPDLC Participation List which is currently in progress and not yet published. The Domestic En Route CPDLC Participation List will consist of three color-coded avionics configuration categories indicating the status of CPDLC participation:
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Green (Acceptable – participation allowed)
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Yellow (Operating with Open Avionics Actions – participation allowed)
- Includes new avionics combinations that have not yet demonstrated acceptable VDLM2/air-to-ground En Route CPDLC performance. The avionics will remain in the yellow category until the data collection/evaluation is complete.
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Red (Excluded – participation not allowed)
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Missing If your avionics configuration is not listed on the Domestic En Route CPDLC Participation List, talk to your OEM. OEMs can work with L3Harris to begin the process of adding new avionics configurations to the Domestic En Route CPDLC Participation List.
For more information on the delay of the Domestic En Route CPDLC Participation List and the return to maximum En Route participation, please see the message posted by Kathy Torrence, the FAA DataComm Program Manger on the FAA DataComm website.
Is there anything operators can do now?
All operators wishing to participate in US Domestic En Route CPDLC should fill out the new Participation Form as soon as able and submit the completed form to L3Harris.
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To access the Participation Form, click here.
- If you previously filled out a Participation Form to join the Return to Service Trial, you must fill out this new one. The FAA has asked that these forms be resubmitted as soon as possible, ideally prior to October 31, 2023.
- If you are a new user, you must fill out this new Participation Form prior to beginning participation in US Domestic En Route CPDLC.
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If you have a large fleet, an Excel form is available to use instead of the individual Participation Form. Please contact the DCIT at [email protected] to request access.
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Not registering to participate and filing as eligible will result in your aircraft being placed on the En Route Blocked List (InFO 23008).
What do I do if I have the A056 US Domestic CPLDC En Route Prohibited Limitation?
Many operators received a limitation on their A056 LOA from the FAA during 2022-2023. Check Table 1, if you have the limitation it will read “US Domestic CPDLC En Route Prohibited”.
The FAA published InFO 23008 on 03 October 2023 with some FAA policy changes for US Domestic Datalink Operations. The following is a summary of the removal process for the A056 US Domestic CPDLC En Route Prohibited limitation:
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If your avionics configuration is listed as Green or Yellow on the Domestic En Route CPDLC Participation List, the limitation will be removed and the operator may participate.
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Upon deletion of the NOTAM prohibiting GA/BA participation, you may immediately participate in US Domestic En Route CPDLC and may continue to participate with the limitation for 12 months from the publication of InFO 23008, during which time the limitation will be removed from the A056.
- There is no action required by the operator to remove the limitation.
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If your avionics are listed as Red, the operator may not participate in US Domestic En Route CPDLC.
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If your avionics configuration is not listed, talk to your OEM.
Refresher: Basic Requirements for Participation in US Domestic En Route CPDLC
The following items are required for successful US Domestic En Route CPDLC participation:
- VDL Mode 2 capability
- Functional Integration or “Push to Load” capability for loading route changes (e.g., uplink message UM79, UM80, and UM83) into the navigation system whenever they are received
- Correct coding on the flight plan filing:
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Field 10a: You must include code J4 to indicate VDL Mode 2 capability.
- Field 18: Must include the following:
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DAT/FANSE or DAT/FANSER (as applicable – check with your OEM if not sure which are you supposed to file). This is in addition to your FANS DCL codes, so you may have DAT/1FANSE2PDC, for example. For a complete list of DAT/ codes, see the link below (pages 15-16).
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REG/ (registration, i.e. N-number)
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CODE/ (this must be the original ICAO address - also known as the ADS-B Mode S Address) that matches the registration entered in the REG/ field. A mismatch will prevent a successful login.
Need more info on codes?
See L3Harris’ US Domestic CPLDC Flight and Route Planning Guide.
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