Eclipse 500 jets under FAA review

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States is conducting a 30-day special review of its certification of Eclipse Aviation’s very light jet (VLJ), the Eclipse 500. The unusual 30-day review, according to an official of the Federal Aviation Administration, began on August 11, 2008.

Jerry Mack, a former safety executive of Boeing Company, is leading the FAA’s oversight team of seven experts with specialties such as flight testing, avionics, and the Eclipse 500 very light jets in response to reports of safety problems when the planes were certified in 2006.

The Eclipse 500 – manufactured by Eclipse Aviation, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the United States – is a small, 6-seat business jet aircraft. It is the second of a new class of business jets called very light jets (VLJ), following the delivery of the first VLJ, the Cessna Citation Mustang in late 2006. The Eclipse 500 aircraft is powered by two lightweight Pratt & Whitney Canada PW610F turbofan engines in tail-mounted nacelles.

The FAA’s review team will look at the Eclipse 500 jets’ safety and certification, including issues such as aircraft trim, flaps, screen blanking and stall speeds – which are the subject of complaints from aircraft operators.

According to the FAA, in the past 10 years, the agency has conducted only 6 similar special reviews of a particular model of aircraft. These aircraft are: Liberty XL-2 (2008), Mitsubishi MU-2B (2005), Cessna 208 (2005), Twin Cessna 400 Series Models (2004), Raytheon 390 (2004), and the Beechcraft T34 (2003).

Roel Pieper, chief executive of Eclipse Aviation, said in a press release that the company welcomes the Federal Aviation Administration review.

Pieper explained: “Without a doubt, this special review will uncover what we already know – that the Eclipse 500 marks the safest new airplane introduction into service in 20 years. Customer safety has always been a priority at Eclipse Aviation, and we look forward to this investigation dispelling any inaccuracies about the certification of this airplane for once and for all. The 245 aircraft delivered so far have flown more than 32,000 hours and achieved a safety record unprecedented for a new Part 23 aircraft.”

The review of Eclipse 500 jets comes as the FAA is facing scrutiny from US Congress as well from Calvin Scovel, inspector-general of the United States Transportation Department, regarding the FAA’s certification of the Eclipse 500 jets.

A spokesman for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee was quoted by the media as saying: “The question is whether the Federal Aviation Administration did what it is supposed to do in certifying this jet.”

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will conduct a hearing on the issue on September 17, 2008. Calvin Scovel, who also is investigating the manner in which FAA approved the jets, is expected to testify at the hearing.

The United States National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), which represents the Federal Aviation Administration’s certification engineers, had filed a grievance after the Eclipse 500 jets were certified, maintaining that the approval came despite outstanding safety and regulatory issues.

The Eclipse 500 jets employ ‘fly-by-wire’ technology that uses electricity rather than mechanics to control the plane. The technology has long been used in military aircraft, but is relatively new to commercial aviation.

The US National Transportation Safety Board had, on June 12, 2008, sent the FAA an urgent recommendation that it inspect the throttles of all Eclipse 500 jets and require the company to develop immediately an emergency procedure for dual engine control failure on the aircraft. This recommendation followed an emergency landing by an Eclipse 500 jet at Chicago’s Midway Airport on June 5, 2008.

After that incident, safety officials said that the Eclipse 500 jet had developed the problem in Chicago after only 238 hours of flight. The plane probably would have crashed, the safety officials had added, but for the resourcefulness of the pilots, good weather conditions as well as the plane’s proximity to Midway Airport.