FAA Confirms Cert Review Now Underway
by ANN Managing Editor Rob Finfrock
Is it another sign
of potentially serious problems with the inaugural
very-light-jet... or politically-motivated posturing? A
Congressional hearing will be held next month to review the type
certificate issued to Eclipse Aviation for the EA500 VLJ, following
claims by some certification workers the jet was issued its TC
by the FAA long before it was ready.
The hearing before the House Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee, chaired by Congressman James Oberstar (right), will
be held September 17.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association -- which, in
addition to its primary role in representing controllers, also
represents FAA aircraft certification workers -- filed a grievance
in October 2006, alleging "several outstanding safety/regulatory
issues" raised by several engineers and test pilots involved with
the EA500's certification. The grievance didn't mention specific
issues with the plane, and was denied by the FAA... which stands by
its certification.
That wasn't the end of the story, however. Having been shut down
by the FAA, the inspectors took their concerns directly to the
Department of Transportation, and to Congress... where they found
an audience.
As ANN reported, reports surfaced in July
Oberstar's committee was preparing to launch a hearing following an
investigation by the DOT Inspector General.
Oberstar is no stranger to headlines involving aviation safety.
The Minnesota Democrat spearheaded this year's investigation
into the
FAA's questionable oversight of maintenance compliance at
the nation's airlines... efforts that led to
the highly-publicized groundings of MD-80s at American Airlines in
April, and a $10.2 million fine issued by the FAA against Southwest
Airlines for failing to conduct fuselage fatigue inspections on its
oldest Boeing 737s.
Separately, NATCA also has a well-publicized beef with the
FAA. The agency
forced a new contract on controllers in June
2006, after FAA officials declared an impasse in
negotiations with the union... and since then, NATCA hasn't missed
an opportunity to call the FAA on the carpet. Certification of the
Eclipse 500 was one of the agency's highest-profile projects in
some time.
That said, it's little secret the Eclipse 500 has suffered
a rocky service record since the plane entered serial production in
January 2007. The FAA has issued a number of Airworthiness
Directives for the plane, including for issues involving
icing in the plane's pitot and AOA probes. In
June, the FAA
issued an Emergency AD following the failure
of an Eclipse 500 throttle quadrant, which led to an emergency,
engine-out landing at Chicago's Midway Airport.
Eclipse developed fixes for both issues.
A number of pilots have also blown maingear tires on landing.
Though Eclipse maintains that issue is tied to pilots attempted to
land the plane at higher-than-book speeds, the company is working
to certify a more durable tire.
Critics of the company (a very vocal group) accuse the
planemaker of sacrificing build quality in its quest to reach
production rates as high as four planes per day... a
total Eclipse has not come close to achieving. Those
naysayers point to the high number of maintenance squawks
reported by Eclipse 500 owners in the field -- including poor
fit-and-finish quality, avionics problems, and failures of yaw
dampener and autopilot servos -- as clear evidence of this
problem.
The circumstances under which Eclipse eventually earned its TC
has also raised eyebrows. Former FAA Administrator Marion Blakey
awarded Eclipse with a
provisional TC at AirVenture 2006, about a
year later than the company had hoped. The "provisional"
nature of the certification was due to the company's continued
efforts to resolve avionics integration issues. Eclipse also had to
redesign the plane's tip tanks to meet lightning safety
guidelines... a requirement that led Eclipse to implement a slate
of performance-improving airframe modifications, to compensate for
the performance hit from the larger, aluminum tanks.
The FAA issued Eclipse its full TC on September 30,
2006... a Saturday, and the end of the FAA's fiscal
year. The certification workers who brought their complaints to the
DOT questioned whether the odd timing of the issuance was tied at
all to performance-based pay bonuses for FAA higher-ups, an
accusation the FAA has vehemently denied.
FAA Confirms Certification Review
The FAA
acknowledged Wednesday that on August 11, the agency began a
30-day review of the Eclipse 500. Jerry Mack, a former Boeing
safety executive, is leading an oversight team of seven FAA experts
with specialties such as flight testing, avionics, and
certification. None of the team members were part of the
original certification group.
"The FAA convened this Special Certification Review (SCR) team
to look at: aircraft safety, certification of aircraft trim, flaps,
screen blanking, and stall speeds," the agency writes. "These
issues were the subject of Service Difficulty Reports (SDRs) that
have been filed by operators since the aircraft was certificated on
September 30, 2006. The team will look at whether or not any of
these issues were raised during the certification process and if
any of the issues are currently a threat to safety."
Eclipse tells ANN it will cooperate fully with the FAA in the
matter, and that the planemaker is confident the review will find
the Eclipse 500 was in full compliance with all federal regulations
at the time of its certification.
"Without a doubt, this special review will uncover what we
already know -- that the Eclipse 500 marks the safest new airplane
introduction into service in 20 years," said Eclipse CEO Roel
Pieper. "Customer safety has always been a priority at Eclipse, and
we look forward to this investigation dispelling any inaccuracies
about the certification of this airplane for once and for all."
Eclipse also claims that with more than 5,000 test hours on six
test aircraft, the EA500 is the most-tested Federal Aviation
Regulation (FAR) Part 23 (general aviation) aircraft in decades.
The company also implies the high number of service-related issues
for the plane is tied to the relatively large number of Eclipse
500s already in service: in 20 months of customer shipments,
Eclipse has delivered 245 aircraft, and accumulated more than
32,000 total fleet hours.
The FAA notes such certification reviews are regularly
conducted by the agency. "In the past 10 years, the agency has
conducted special reviews on the Liberty XL-2 (2008), Mitsubishi
MU-2B (2005), Cessna 208 (2005), Twin Cessna 400 Series Models
(2004), Raytheon 390 (2004), and the Beechcraft T34 (2003)," the
agency said.
ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (04.16.24)
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