"Tecnam Has Deemed It Necessary To Provide Additional Information To The Public"

Media reports suggesting a grounding of Cape Air airline P2012 commercial aircraft are being strongly refuted by personnel from Tecnam -- where some believe the initial reports have been taken out of context to provide click bait.

Complicating the issue is a limited statement given to media from a Cape Air PR rep, stating that, "Based on our desire to allow time for the Federal Aviation Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency to have a dialogue regarding recent modifications, we have temporarily and voluntarily suspended operations with the Tecnam P2012 Traveller."

The Tecnam side of things provides more detail.

"Public announcements containing the word 'grounding' always receive attention, since this is a term in aviation indicating that a problem is serious enough to prevent an aircraft from flying. That is certainly not the case here, and for this reason Tecnam has deemed it necessary to provide additional information to the public.

As a preliminary note, Cape Air currently is our main customer, but not the only operator of the P2012 Traveller, the “next generation short-haul public transportation aircraft” entirely designed by Tecnam in Italy. Tecnam proactively works with the carrier to implement improvements to the P2012 as soon as they become available, with the ultimate goal of providing operators and passengers with the best possible flight experience. Cape Air expects that the P2012 Traveller will 'continue to evolve to be an even greater aircraft in the months and years ahead.'"

Tecnam blames the hysteria on their 'Constant Improvement Program (CIP).' The program offers minor improvements, such as new-style life-vest holders, holders for gust-lock bars or for company manuals, as well as various improvements that are capable of extending the service life of the aircraft.

Most recently; part of the improvement program. "involved components of the elevator trim control system, designed and manufactured to increase their long-term reliability and already embodied on all the P2012 aircraft. As the FAA were informed about these design changes, additional clarification requests related to the reasons behind some of those modifications were raised. As a result, a roundtable discussion between the FAA, EASA and Tecnam was established. In order to allow the authorities time to assess and process these clarifications without pressure, Cape Air unilaterally decided to keep their fleet temporarily on the ground."

To further explain the scenario, Tecnam Managing Director, Giovanni Pascale Langer, notes that, "It is always disturbing to hear the word grounded when referring to an aircraft. However, we would like to make it clear that this action is not related to technical issues or safety, but only for authority inspection of certain proposed changes. The safety of this aircraft is widely demonstrated by the rest of the P2012 Travellers currently in service, including both Tecnam-owned test aircraft which have accumulated hundreds of hours in the most demanding flight-test conditions, far away from the typical airline mission profile. Nevertheless, Tecnam is always fully committed to customers’ decisions and open to any discussions aimed at improvements introduced to the fleet.”

ANN has calls in to get further info and will report back when additional  info presents itself.

FMI: www.tecnam.com, www.capeair.com