Is there any reason to have ADS-B out that is not based on GPS? The ADS-B system is only as accurate as the location data source it uses. In the US the 2020 ADS-B mandate requires that horizontal location data be from a GPS source with minimum performance standards set out in 14 CFR § 91.227.1 

The aircraft in the Lamia crash in Colombia had ADS-B out that was based on an inertial system resulting in their ADS-B track being off from their actual position. It was off by 2 km when the flight began and drifted further during the flight, possibly being off by as much as 4 km by the time of the accident.2 

Although ATC radar will still get an accurate location from the transponder, other aircraft might be using the data for traffic advisories through a system like ATAS. Using a system that could be sending inaccurate data has the potential to be dangerous.3 No info would be preferable to incorrect info. Is there any reason to install an ADS-B out system that does not use a GPS data source?



1ADS-B Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

2Satcom Guru: LMI2933 LAMIA AVRO RJ85 Medellín Deadstick

3At this point there is no reason to believe inaccuracy of location data had any bearing on the LMI2933 accident.
There are still quite a lot of aircraft that do have ADS-B based on inertial navigation position. 

The reason for this is quite simple; they don't have GPS or the GPS is not connected to the transponder. Somewhere during the lifetime of the aircraft the transponder has received an update or has been replaced and is now transmitting ADS-B messages, based on the only position source available to the transponder; the Inertial Navigation System. That is fully legal, but it does not meet the ADS-B requirements of the various ADS-B mandates around the world. 



Is this a danger to the safety of flight when ADS-B IN based systems like ATAS are used? 

No, not at all. ADS-B IN systems do not use the data from these aircraft as the ADS-B messages contain several quality indicators that must meet certain conditions before a track is being displayed in the cockpit. Transponders transmitting INS positions indicate that the position integrity and accuracy is very low. In addition the source integrity level (SIL) will also be set to 0. Each of these indicators will result in the track not being displayed.