Dassault’s US business jet operation Dassault Falcon Jet may face a $450,000 fine for allegedly carrying out unapproved maintenance work at its completion centre in Little Rock, Arkansas, says the Federal Aviation Administration. Dassault says it is appealing.
The unapproved work involved electroplating numerous parts before installation, and the FAA requires that companies carrying out electroplating for aircraft components must have the agency’s authorisation to do the work.
The FAA says that Dassault was sent a warning notice about this in January 2008, but since then the company has returned 18 aircraft to service after maintenance, and it alleges they were fitted with unapproved electroplated parts.
The FAA’s sensitivity about the electroplating process stems from the fact that, if it is carried out imperfectly, the metal being plated can suffer hydrogen embrittlement, which reduces the component’s durability and strength, hence its insistence that all stations that carry out the work for aviation must be approved. Dassault says: “Dassault Falcon is challenging the FAA’s proposal.
The concerned parts were largely for decorative purposes and at no time was there a question about the structural integrity of the parts and aircraft involved.
Dassault Falcon’s current plating processes are now approved by the FAA and are a mirror image to the processes used during the time period in question.”
Source: Flight International
