A problem that stalled shipments of Garmin G1000 avionics last week, affecting deliveries of some piston aircraft, has been resolved, Garmin said on Monday. Garmin has resumed shipments of the GRS 77 AHRS (Attitude Heading Reference System) units, which were the cause of the snafu, used in G1000 installations. “All affected aircraft manufacturers will begin receiving GRS 77 units immediately so that they can resume aircraft deliveries,” Garmin said. Production of the GRS 77 will increase incrementally as Garmin ramps up the production line. The AHRS problem was caused by a production process change by a component supplier, Garmin said. The company said it has “identified and isolated the suspect problematic components and is now validating components with additional testing.” Garmin said it will issue a Service Bulletin in the near future about those GRS 77 units in the serial number range listed on the 070816-00 Service Advisory. The Service Bulletin will provide instructions on how to have the affected units updated under warranty.
Cessna spokesman Doug Oliver told AVweb the company has resumed deliveries of single-engine piston aircraft. “We will be gradually ramping up deliveries based on Garmin’s delivery schedule of new units. We don’t anticipate any impact to our delivery goals for the year,” Oliver said. Columbia Aircraft stopped production last week and laid off hundreds of workers. Production has resumed there, spokesman Randy Bolinger told AVweb on Wednesday. “We are recalling workers as we need them, but the pace of getting ‘back to normal’ will depend on the rate of deliveries from Garmin,” he said. Deliveries of the Garmin units are behind schedule and will likely take at least a week or two to catch up. “We’re headed in the right direction,” Bolinger said.
