Thu, Aug 07, 2008
Orders TQA Testing During Next Service
The Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) has issued an updated Airworthiness Directive (AD) for the
Eclipse 500 fleet of aircraft manufactured by Eclipse Aviation,
offering clarification on how the aircraft's Throttle Quadrant
Assembly (TQA) should be inspected.
Thursday's AD replaces the prior emergency AD,
which was issued by the FAA on June 12. Under
the new AD, Eclipse 500 aircraft tested under the previous AD must
complete Eclipse's FAA-approved TQA testing process during their
next scheduled aircraft maintenance visit, or within the next 60
days. Aircraft that were not previously inspected must be tested
under the new AD within 30 days.
The AD also allows the aircraft owner up to 10 hours of flight
time to reposition the airplane for the inspection. Eclipse has
created a special suite of tools to efficiently conduct these tests
at Eclipse Service Centers or Eclipse-designated facilities.
If the TQA fails the inspection, the quadrant must be replaced
before the next flight... grounding the aircraft until the new part
is installed.
Eclipse says it sent the Service Bulletin to customers Thursday,
explaining how to comply with the AD. Eclipse recently announced
its plan to increase the TQA range limit to prevent the fault
condition, through a software update to all Eclipse 500 owners and
operators.
The planemaker states software requirements have already
been completed, and the company is working with its suppliers to
develop an implementation schedule. Eclipse says it expects FAA
certification on the software update in early Q4.
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