Move Follows Inspections Of The Fleet Called For In Russian AD

Mexican airline Interjet has grounded half of its 22 Sukhoi Superjet 100 airliners following inspections of the fleet recommended by a Russian Airworthiness Directive.

On its website, Interjet said in a statement that it is working with Sukhoi Civil Aircraft to comply with the AD (2016-322-02), and that the airplanes that are still in operation "comply with the regulations and the highest safety standards."

Reuters reports that the AD stemmed from the discovery of a "minor fault" in the horizontal stabilizer described by Sukhoi in a statement as a "defect in the stabilizer attachment bands on one aircraft.

"Examination has confirmed that the issue is not a critical situation: the node features a multi-level redundant structure and has a safety margin which is more than twice the operational loads," the statement continued

The Mexico Daily News reports that Interjet is has canceled as many as 25 flights per day because of the grounding. It is the only operator of the SSJ100 in the Americas, according to Reuters.

(Image from file)

FMI: http://www.scac.ru/en