Calls For Inspection / Modification / Replacement Of Emergency
Accumulator For Landing Gear Extension
EASA and CASA have noted an issue with the landing gear on
Tecnam's P2006T significant enough to warrant the issuance of an
Emergency AD. The directive, initially issued by EASA September 9,
revises EASA AD 2011-0153-E dated 25 August 2011.
Tecnam P2006T
During a pre-flight inspection of a P2006T airplane, damaged was
found on the lower skin of the fuselage aft tail cone. This damage
was caused by the lower lid of the landing gear (LG) emergency
accumulator, which had detached from the LG emergency accumulator,
violently hitting the lower skin of the fuselage aft tail cone and
damaging the accumulator cylinder. This condition, if not detected
and corrected, could impair the airplane structural integrity and
jeopardize the LG emergency extension in case of system failure in
normal mode.
To address this unsafe condition, EASA issued Emergency AD
2011-0063-E to require a one-time inspection of the LG emergency
accumulator cylinder for cracks, deformation or oil leakage and,
depending on findings, the accomplishment of the applicable
corrective actions. After that AD was issued, TECNAM developed a
modification (MOD 2006- 108) and published Service Bulletin (SB)
SB-048–CS Revision 1, dated 06 July 2011, that contained the
instructions for that modification. Prompted by this development,
EASA issued Proposed AD (PAD) 11-070 for consultation until 16
August 2011, proposing to require incorporation of this
modification on all affected airplanes, and to require certain
post-modification repetitive inspections.
During the consultation period of PAD 11-070, an operator who
had applied TECNAM SB-048–CS on his airplane, reported
finding abnormal deformation of the emergency accumulator, to such
an extent that it would jeopardize the LG emergency extension in
case of system failure in normal mode. To address this additional
safety concern, TECNAM issued SB-068– CS which contains
instructions to inspect post-modification airplanes.
For the reasons described above, this AD retains the
requirements of EASA AD 2011-0063-E, which is superseded, and
requires modification of the landing gear emergency accumulator by
installation of safety rings and repetitive inspections after
modification. In addition, prompted by the recent post-modification
findings, this AD reduces the compliance time for the modification
as originally proposed and requires additional
first-flight-of-the-day repetitive inspections of the LG emergency
accumulator cylinder and replacement of the LG emergency
accumulator if cracks, deformation, or oil leakage is detected.
Because of the recent findings, it has been decided that further
consultation, prior to Final AD issuance, on the changed
requirements compared to those specified in PAD 11-070, is not
conducive to safety and not in the public interest. This AD is
considered to be an interim measure and further AD action may
follow. This AD Revision is issued in order to allow Pilot-Owner to
accomplish the daily pre-flight inspection of the modified LG
emergency accumulator.