Firstly, this is a GA forum - that is why it is called private flying.
The discussion arose out of an incident in a commercial aircraft, with three crew. That environment is totally different from the average SPPPLIR ops.
Clearly in a commercial aircraft there is no possibility of operating with a three and six unapproved GPS unit - end of discussion.
In GA however, a three and six unapproved unit is possible, as is a panel mounted Skyforce, a panel mounted G1000 or an Avidyne unit.
If you have used a G1000 you would be totally convinced that the situational awareness this gives, coupled with the seamless integration with the automatics, procedures, weather and terrain information and avionics is a huge leap forward in the improvements it brings to situational awareness, cockpit management and workload. Could a professional pilot perform as well in SPIR ops with “traditional” equipment in all circumstances - of course not. However, it is not that simple. There is a great deal of information available, and the smooth operation of the kit in a potentially very high work load environment demands familiarity. Without that familiarity it is another distraction, the consequences are potentially disastrous. It is not a panacea.
At the other extreme are the typical moving map non approved units used by many.
They were not on the IAP if they hit a mountain. Perhaps one should ask why they were not on the IAP.
No - that is not the question to ask. If every pilot was always on the IAP this type of accident would never occur. Yet the accident record is “littered” with pilots of considerable experience who find themselves in just such situations. In short pilots are trained with all the expertise and experience accumulated over the years by instructors not to let this happen, but it still does. Would a moving map of any type provide a secondary reference that the aircraft was not correctly established on the IAP or might it add to additional confusion, where none had existed before?
In my opinion IF the pilot is familiar with the unit so that it does not become another distraction then it can only aid him in situational awareness. If only once it leads him to doubt that he is correctly established on the IAP and enables him to reposition it has proved its worth.
Unless the mountain is marked on the GPS and flagged then there is little to be gained.
I don’t follow your argument. Many incidents of this type are caused by the pilot missing a clue that they are at some other point in the procedure. In Englishal’s case we can all conject why the pilots did not go missed, however in addition to the information they should have had from their DME or from the markers they would have seen on a moving map that they had passed the threshold.
In short I am not suggesting relying on a moving map, particularly in an unapproved fit, but it aint half a bad backup which will give you a clue that what the primary instruments are telling you might just not add up!
Englishal - sorry to hear about your freind.