Can You Fly With Expired GPS Database?

Fledgling IFR student wants to know if that situation renders your flight school aircraft unusable.

Meg Godlewski

Wednesday, September 03, 2025 at 12:00 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

Garmin’s GDL 52 offers GPS, ADS-B and Sirius XM as a full package of data for portable tablets or smartphones.[Credit: Garmin]

Key Takeaways:

Pilots cannot legally fly GPS instrument approaches if the aircraft's GPS database is not current, as the FAA requires procedures to be retrieved from a database updated every 28 days.
An outdated GPS database does not ground the entire aircraft; the GPS can still be used for en route operations provided the pilot verifies the data with current supplemental resources like paper charts or electronic flight bag applications.

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Question: The flight school I’m flying with isn’t [really] good about updating the GPS database in the twin-engine airplane because not too many people fly it, and they don’t want to spend the money. Does that mean we just can’t legally fly GPS approaches, or is the whole airplane grounded for anything outside the pattern?

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Answer: According to the FAA, any instrument approach procedure you intend to fly must be retrievable from the current database, which is updated every 28 days. Although you cannot legally fly the approach, you can use the GPS to fly the aircraft for en route operations provided you have a way to verify the data is still correct. Whip out a current paper chart, ForeFlight, or Garmin Pilot—provided they are still current—and use them for reference.

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