Thu, Apr 23, 2009
Continuing Airworthiness Notice – 27-003, Zenith and
Zenair CH601 Aircraft Series Safety Recommendation
The Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand has issued a
Continuing Airworthiness Notice regarding the Zenith and Zenair
CH601 series, "in the interests of aviation safety."
Continuing Airworthiness Notices (CAN) are intended to alert,
educate, and make recommendations to the aviation community. A CAN
contains non-regulatory information and guidance that does not meet
the criteria for an Airworthiness Directive (AD). The inspections
and practices described in this CAN must still be carried out in
accordance with the applicable NZCAR Parts 21, 43 and 91. CAA's
CANs are ADVISORY ONLY and are NOT MANDATORY.
Applicable to 'All Zenith and Zenair CH601 series aircraft', the
'Continuing Airworthiness Notice (CAN) is to advise operators of
Zenith and Zenair CH601 series aircraft that there have been six
in-flight structural breakups of Zodiac CH601 XL aircraft since
2006. It appears that aerodynamic flutter is the likely cause of
four of the USA accidents and at least two accidents in Europe. The
aircraft manufacturer believes flight control flutter will not
occur if the control cables are correctly adjusted. Zenair Europe
on behalf of Zenair Ltd issued SB No. ZE-2008-01 dated 28 October
2008 requiring the inspection of all control cables for correct
tension to prevent aerodynamic flutter.'
Background
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Netherlands issued Emergency
Airworthiness Directive NL-2008-003 on 24 October 2008 grounding
all Zodiac CH601 XL aircraft (both factory and homebuilt) as an
interim measure pending their investigation of a fatal accident on
14 September 2008, in which it appears the wing broke up in flight.
Since the issue of the Netherlands AD the National Transport Safety
Board (NTSB) issued urgent Safety Recommendation A-09-30, dated 14
April 2009 addressed to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
requesting the grounding of all Zodiac CH601 XL aircraft in the USA
due to six in-flight structural breakups since 2006. The FAA are
looking into concerns about all versions of the Zodiac CH601 XL
aircraft and have no immediate plans to call for the aircraft to be
grounded citing the aircraft manufacturer has already told
operators to inspect aileron control cable tensions.
The aircraft manufacturer believes aerodynamic flutter will not
occur if the control cables are correctly tensioned and has issued
SB No. ZE-2008-01 dated 28 October 2008 requiring the inspection of
all control cable for correct tension. They have also posted a
letter on http://www.zenithair.com/ from the
designer that relates to the in-flight breakups.
Recommendation
The CAA will continue to monitor the situation closely but in
the interim we advise owners of Zenith and Zenair CH601 series
aircraft to exercise all possible caution in the operation of their
aircraft. In particular the CAA recommends you observe the
following:
- Avoid flight in severe turbulence
- Avoid high speeds and/or severe manoeuvres
- Aerobatics, if permitted for your aircraft, should not be
attempted.
Inspection of the control cables in accordance with Zenair
Europe SB No. ZE-2008-01 is strongly recommended. Although the
Netherlands AD is not yet mandatory in New Zealand, the Civil
Aviation Authority is in contact with the FAA and the Netherlands
Authority, and a NZ AD may be issued in the near future. In the
interim we wish to draw your attention to the Netherlands AD, the
NTSB urgent Safety Recommendation and the SB issued by Zenair
Ltd.
The NZ CAA recommends the review of documents available from http://www.zenithair.com/
.
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