FAA orders review after jet certification questioned

<p>WASHINGTON -- Federal aviation officials said Wednesday they are conducting an unusual 30-day review of the Eclipse 500 very light jets in response to reports of safety problems when the planes were certified in 2006.</p><p>The union representing aircraft certification engineers at the Federal Aviation Administration has complained that agency managers came into work on Sept. 30, 2006 -- a Saturday that was the last day of the federal budget year -- and ordered the Eclipse jets be certified for flight over the objections of engineers still testing the high-tech plane.</p><p>The FAA said Wednesday it put together a review team Aug. 11 to look at the jets' safety and certification. That includes issues such as aircraft trim, flaps, and stall speeds -- the subject of complaints from aircraft operators.</p><p>In the past 10 years, the agency has conducted only six similar special reviews of a particular model of aircraft, FAA spokeswoman Alison Duquette said.</p><p>Eclipse Aviation of Albuquerque, N.M., the aircraft's manufacturer, said it welcomes FAA's review.</p><p>"Without a doubt, this special review will uncover what we already know -- that the Eclipse 500 marks the safest new airplane introduction into service in 20 years," said Roel Pieper, Eclipse's chief executive. "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."</p><p>The review comes as the FAA is facing scrutiny from Congress and the Transportation Department's inspector general, Calvin Scovel, regarding its certification of the jets.</p><p>"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, which has scheduled a Sept. 17 hearing on the issue.</p><p>Scovel, who also is investigating the manner in which FAA approved the jets, is expected to testify.</p><p>The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, which represents FAA certification engineers, filed a grievance after the jets were certified, contending the approval came despite outstanding safety and regulatory issues.</p><p>Tomaso DiPaolo, the controllers association's national representative for the engineers, said it was very unusual for FAA managers to overrule engineers and order a plane be certified.</p><p>"Typically, FAA managers don't make a move unless you have a cadre of engineers willing to approve a design," DiPaolo said.</p><p>Afterward, several of the engineers who objected to the Eclipse certification were denied pay raises, he said.</p><p>The Eclipse employs "fly-by-wire" technology that uses electricity rather than mechanics to control the plane. The technology has long been used in military aircraft but is relatively new to commercial aviation.</p><p>On June 12, the National Transportation Safety Board sent FAA an urgent recommendation that it inspect all Eclipse 500 throttles and require the company to immediately develop an emergency procedure for dual engine control failure on the aircraft. The recommendation arose from a June 5 emergency landing by an Eclipse 500 at Chicago's Midway Airport.</p><p>Safety officials said the plane in Chicago developed its problem after only 238 hours of flight, and had it not been for the resourcefulness of the pilots, good weather and the plane's proximity to Midway, it probably would have crashed. The two pilots and two passengers were unhurt; two landing gear tires were flattened.</p><p>FAA ordered the throttle inspections, but DiPaolo described them as perfunctory at best. "It was pretty laughable," DiPaolo said. "They were telling the pilots to inspect the throttle quadrants, but they aren't engineers. . . . It was like telling them to do something for the sake of it doing it."</p><p>The company was formed in 1998 with a goal of producing light, inexpensive jets that could carry a maximum of five passengers and become an air-taxi service for the masses.</p>