Less than 24 hours after massive cancellations at Confins, Azul faced another GPS-related scare on 24 September when flight AD4723 from Brasília (BSB) to São Paulo/Congonhas aborted its take-off roll after the crew reported loss of satellite-navigation signals. The Embraer E195-E2 returned to the gate, where technicians reset the Honeywell receiver; the aircraft departed safely 68 minutes later. Passengers were informed via cockpit announcement and received real-time updates through the airline’s mobile app, a practice newly mandated under ANAC’s amended passenger-rights rules adopted earlier this week. Azul says the incident affected only one rotation but confirms that intermittent GPS instability continues to affect several jets until a permanent firmware patch is deployed. Industry analysts note that Brazil’s high dependence on performance-based navigation (PBN) procedures means even brief GPS outages can trigger cascading delays at slot-constrained airports like Congonhas. Travel managers are urged to monitor short-haul connections closely through the weekend, especially for same-day business trips. ANAC has convened an extraordinary safety panel with Embraer, Honeywell and all Brazilian carriers operating E-Jets to co-ordinate software updates and share operational mitigations. Until then, crews have been instructed to rely on conventional radio navigation aids where available and to plan higher fuel reserves in case of diversion. While Wednesday’s event ended without injury or significant delay, it underscores the systemic nature of the GPS problem and the urgency of cyber-resilience in aviation infrastructure.
Source: Metrópoles
