FAA Dismissed Claims VLJ Was Approved Despite Safety Concerns

The US Department of Transportation is riding its FAA division pretty hard these days. The DOT's Inspector General has recently issued reports highly critical of the FAA's handling of airline maintenance enforcement and labor relations with its own employees.

Now, USA Today cites Jim Berard, a spokesman for the House Transportation Committee in Congress, in reporting another investigation underway by the IG. This one reportedly involves allegations that the FAA's certification of the Eclipse 500 very light jet in 2006 came despite safety concerns raised by the engineers and test pilots who evaluated the plane.

The allegations are not new. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, which also represents FAA aircraft certification workers, filed a grievance in October 2006, alleging "several outstanding safety/regulatory issues" with the EA500. The grievance didn't mention specific issues with the plane, and was denied by the FAA... which stands by its certification.

Eclipse CEO Vern Raburn says the 500 is in "complete and total conformity" with federal regulations. He dismisses the complaint as an internal FAA matter.

The investigation is the latest in a series of challenges faced by Eclipse. Last month, a pilot executing an aborted landing at Chicago Midway Airport jammed the engine thrust controls against the stops hard enough to trigger a control system error, which caused a temporary loss of thrust.

The pilot landed the plane safely, and Eclipse says it promptly addressed the issue with other owners... but the National Transportation Safety Board issued a press release days later which dramatized the problem, and triggered many erroneous media reports that the fleet had been ordered grounded.

The House Transportation Committee reportedly expects to hear back from the DOT's Inspector General in a few weeks. NATCA says it expects to take its grievance to arbitration.

FMI: www.oig.dot.gov, www.faa.gov, www.natca.org, www.eclipseaviation.com