Originally Posted by
peekay4
L39 Guy:
That's assuming WAAS upgrade is the only thing that's required. Which is the wrong assumption in most cases.
In reality, a large number of A320s (and even A330s/A340s) do not have even vanilla GPS installed as part of the navigation system! No GPS units. No MMR. These A320s depend solely on radio updating (VOR/DME) or manual IRU alignment before takeoff.
(I believe the Air Canada aircraft involved in this accident was not equipped with GPS.)
Also, some of these aircraft have dual FMS which are not GPS compatible. Total upgrade price == very costly.
Depending on what we see in the final report, there is a chance that we will get to see the price paid for not making this "costly" upgrade.
The last operator that crashed a jet in Canada were saving themselves money by waiting to upgrade their GPWS to TAWS standard. Several lives lost.