First Class

FAA, Congress Scrutinize Eclipse 500 Very Light Jet

By Blair Watson, Special to Aviation.com

posted: 21 August 2008 12:04 pm ET

: The FAA is conducting a review of the Eclipse 500 VLJ after operators reported safety and regulatory issues. Eclipse Aviation's EA-500, seen here, has garnered more publicity than any other very light jet and its developer Vern Raburn is widely regarded as the motivating force for the new breed of VLJs. Credit: Eclipse Aviation

Problems reported by operators of the Eclipse 500 Very Light Jet (VLJ) and a grievance citing Eclipse 500 safety and regulatory issues filed by the union representing federal aircraft certification personnel have prompted unusual government action. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) yesterday, a 30-day review of the high-tech Eclipse 500 VLJ began on August 11.

“The FAA convened this Special Certification Review (SCR) team to look at: aircraft safety, certification of aircraft trim, flaps, screen blanking, and stall speeds,” FAA officials said in a Wednesday statement. “These issues were the subject of Service Difficulty Reports (SDRs) that have been filed by operators since the aircraft was certificated on September 30, 2006. The team will look at whether or not any of these issues were raised during the certification process and if any of the issues are currently a threat to safety.”

In the past 10 years, the FAA has conducted special reviews involving six different types of aircraft, five made in the U.S.

The Albuquerque, NM-based Eclipse Aviation stated it welcomes the FAA review.

“Customer safety has always been a priority at Eclipse, and we look forward to this investigation dispelling any inaccuracies about the certification of this airplane for once and for all,” said Roel Pieper, Eclipse’s chief executive since the sudden resignation of the company’s founder and CEO, Vern Raburn, last month, in a statement on Wednesday.

The FAA review of the Eclipse 500 is scheduled to end mere days before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee holds a hearing into the certification of the much-publicized VLJ. Department of Transportation Inspector General Calvin Scovel, FAA and National Transportation Safety Board personnel, and current and former employees of Eclipse Aviation are expected to testify.

“The question is whether FAA did what it’s supposed to do in certifying this jet,” said Jim Berard, a spokesman for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, yesterday.

SDRs reported to the FAA by Eclipse 500 operators since last year included:

- Smoke from a cockpit electronic display
- Disagreement in airspeed shown on the left and right pilot instruments
- Pixilated (visually deteriorated) primary flight display
- Failed communications and navigation electronics
- Uncommanded autopilot disengagement
- Mysterious pitch trim control augmentation system message before takeoff
- Damaged upper right cockpit beam
- Sticking pilot control side-sticks
- Stuck elevator trim tab
- Dings in a vertical stabilizer leading-edge panel
- Flap and yaw damper failures
- Landing-gear indication problems
- Brake pedals going to the floor after landing
- Engine fire bottle leakage
- Rudder trim runaway

The FAA issued a full type certificate (TC) for the Eclipse 500 on the last day of the agency’s fiscal year – and oddly, a Saturday. FAA aircraft certification personnel questioned whether the timing of the TC issuance was tied to the performance-based pay bonuses of FAA managers, an accusation vehemently denied by the agency.

The filed grievance, which was brought to the attention of members of Congress, accused FAA managers of not “allowing the aircraft certification engineers and flight test pilots to properly complete their assigned certification/safety responsibilities.”