The FAA has restricted certain Canadian operations for radio altimeter aircraft. Airworthiness directive 2026-13-02 becomes effective on 1 July 2026. It applies to all transport and commuter category airplanes fitted with a radio altimeter.
The rule requires a revision to the airplane flight manual. Prohibited procedures include CAT II and CAT III instrument approaches, automatic landings, head-up display landings to touchdown, and enhanced flight vision system operations to touchdown. Certain special-authorisation ILS approaches are also barred. The list covers the low-visibility procedures most reliant on radio altimeter data.
Transport Canada notified the FAA in late March that the 5G Lower C-Band protections established by ISED in 2023 would tighten on 1 July 2026. Airport exclusion and protection zones will no longer apply. Remaining safeguards protect only aircraft whose radio altimeters meet the required interference-tolerance threshold.
The AD names Bombardier, Dassault Aviation, Embraer and Gulfstream Aerospace among the affected manufacturers, alongside Airbus, Boeing, ATR and De Havilland Canada. The FAA estimates 1,000 US-registered aircraft are in scope. Business jets certified to Part 25 fall within the directive. Retrofits to radio altimeters that meet the interference-tolerance standard have been available from avionics suppliers since the parallel US 5G Lower C-Band rulemaking in 2023 and 2024.
Aircraft operating under Part 121 in Canadian airspace must be modified from non-tolerant to radio-altimeter-tolerant configuration. Part 91 operators face the AFM limitations on the affected procedures until the equipment is upgraded. Owners flying Bombardier Globals, Gulfstreams, Falcons and Praetors on Canadian routes should confirm the tolerance status of their radio altimeters with their operator or MRO before departure.
Source: FAA AD 2026-13-02, Federal Register, 30 June 2026; FlightGlobal; Airways Magazine.