Business Aviation: June 2008 Archives

Following the Eclipse 500 VLJ incident reported earlier, the FAA has overnight issued an emergency AD on the type. It's a real 'emergency' emergency AD. You can't fly the aeroplane again until you've done the checks and made the amendments - and of course depending on what you find in the checks you may have a grounded aeroplane on your hands.

This sort of thing happens of course and the world gets over it. But in the embryonic VLJ world the regulatory sensitivity is huge. Good luck to all concerned.

Details have emerged, (as we journalists say about things that we didn't know about at the time) of a dire incident on the VLJ that everyone is watching - the Eclipse 500. (Not the one in this pic.)

It's got the NTSB understandably spooked as you can read at the link below.

Fortunately some highly professional piloting saved the occupants and aircraft.

Here's the scenario: double engine control failure during a windshear influenced final approach. FADEC reverts to last recorded power setting, which unfortunately is full power on both engines. Quite handy for the subsequent go-around, not so great for the desired landing. And then things get worse...

There is of course a major issue over the experience levels of at least some of the owner-pilots likely to end up flying this and other VLJs. The debate, I think it is fair to say, is likely to continue.