FAA clears Eclipse 500 type certification process after special review
13 Sep 2008
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has accepted the recommendations made by a Eclipse 500 special certification review (SCR) team which has determined that the aircraft was safe to fly. The review was prompted by complaints filed by two FAA employees in late 2006. The regulator said the SCR team determined that the very light twin-jet was certified in accordance with safety regulations and also said that it found nothing that would require immediate corrective action on the in-service Eclipse 500 fleet.
The review team, led by former Boeing executive Jerry Mack, focused on certification of aircraft trim, flaps, cockpit displays and stall speeds.
Mostly, the SCR team decided that reported in-service difficulties were not related to the aircraft certification process. However, it uncovered a ''lack of effective communication'' between Albuquerque, N.M.-based Eclipse Aviation and the FAA, as well as between the responsible offices within the agency itself during the course of the Eclipse 500 certification process. It found that at one juncture, Flight Standards personnel flew an early-production airplane that was a non-conforming model.
Flight Standards usually begins work near the end of the type certification process.
The agency said the Saturday, Sept. 30, 2006, issuance of the type certification was requested by Eclipse and not tied to FAA employee bonuses.
Despite the SCR clearance, Eclipse 500 certification process will continue to be under examination and a Congressional House aviation subcommittee hearing will be held on the matter next week.
Eclipse officials said they were not ''surprised by the findings of the review. We fully expected that the Eclipse 500 would be found compliant with all FAA certification regulations.''
