Europe’s safety regulator has opened a consultation over a proposed new method of thrust control on a large aircraft, which will use a single lever to control power to both engines.
Although the European Union Aviation Safety Agency has not identified the applicant, Dassault has previously disclosed that its Falcon 10X business jet, due to enter service in 2027, will feature such an installation.
Under European certification requirements, aircraft must have an individual thrust lever for each engine, and the ability to use them separately and simultaneously.
The single-lever concept means that the pilot’s movement of the lever will generate a consolidated independent thrust command to each engine.
A back-up control knob will be fitted in case engine failure requires the crew to select different thrust levels for each powerplant. This rotary knob enables the pilot to isolate the faulty engine and set its thrust.
Neither the lever nor the rotary knob complies with CS-25 certification standards on control form and function.
EASA has initiated a consultation on equivalent safety proposals for this single-lever cockpit concept. “Under normal operating conditions, there is no need to individually control the thrust delivered by each engine,” it says.
It adds that the rotary knob will not be used for continuous thrust control because, in the event of engine failure, the thrust lever will still provide “intuitive” control of the functioning engine.
Both the thrust lever and the rotary knob comply with the “intent” of the certification regulations, says EASA. Its equivalent safety proposal states that an operational analysis – supported by flight tests – shall be carried out to show there is no need, under normal conditions, to act separately on each engine.
Analysis must also show that the rotary knob allows “intuitive and prompt” pilot response to engine failure, it adds, and that the autothrust function can be used without limitation in case of a jammed thrust lever or other loss-of-thrust scenario.
