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.

FMI: Read The Full AD, www.eclipseaviation.com