Skip to page content

USA Banner

Official US Government Icon

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure Site Icon

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

AC 20-140A - Guidelines for Design Approval of Aircraft Data Communications Systems (Cancelled)

Document Information

Number
20-140A
Title
Guidelines for Design Approval of Aircraft Data Communications Systems
Date cancelled
2012-09-27
Cancellation notes
AC 20-140B
Date issued
2010-04-07
Office of Primary Responsibility
AIR-130, Aviation Safety - Aircraft Certification Service, Aircraft Engineering Division
Description

a. The guidance in this advisory circular (AC) provides one acceptable means of compliance, but not the only means, for type design approval of aircraft that have a data link system installed.

b. Use the guidance in this AC to gain approval for type certificates (TC) and supplemental type certificates (STC) involving aircraft data link systems intended to support air traffic services. This AC will standardize these approvals among the aircraft certification offices (ACOs) in their assessment of aircraft data link systems for design approval.

c. This AC was developed in consideration of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annexes and guidance material, RTCA Inc. documents (RTCA DO) and European Organization for Civil Aviation Equipment documents (EUROCAE ED). It is based on published safety and performance (SPR) standards and interoperability (INTEROP) standards for data link systems in different types of operating environments.

d. This AC is not mandatory and does not constitute a regulation. It is issued to provide guidelines and to outline a means of showing that an aircraft data link system complies with airworthiness requirements.

e. This AC provides airworthiness requirements for the type design approval of aircraft with a data link system installed. It identifies specific configurations of aircraft data link systems intended for air traffic services in order to facilitate operational approvals for aircraft that comply with this AC. AC 120-70A, Operational Authorization Process for Use of Data Link Communication System, or latest revision provides guidelines for the operational authorization needed to use the data link capability. Appendix A of this AC provides a list of related documents. Appendix B of this AC contains a list of applicable acronyms.

Content