Pilot Errors Prompt FAA Alert on CPDLC Procedures

The FAA’s newly published Safety Alert for Pilots (SAFO) 23005 is directed at those who use controller-pilot datalink communications (CPDLC) to ensure that all parts of a clearance are appropriately loaded into the flight management system before departing. It also helps to ensure that the proper clearance is followed.

The document reminds operators that certain clearances require the flight crew to manually input standard instrument departures (SIDs) into the FMS each time a revised UM79 partial reroute message is received (cleared to XXX waypoint via other waypoints en route). In some instances, pilots have misinterpreted UM79to mean they were cleared to fly directly to the waypoint. A direct clearance would be a UM74 message.

According to the alert, 20 recorded aircraft deviations at New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport (KTEB) in 2022 have drawn attention to potential CPDLC and UM79 issues. In these incidents, aircraft departed TEB and flew directly into the arrival corridor of Newark Airport (KEWR). Controllers had to “quickly identify and coordinate” with New York and Newark controllers to issue a turn to avoid traffic. “The FAA determined that the probable cause of these events was due to the SID clearance not being manually reloaded in the FMS after receiving a UM79,” the FAA said.