FAA Advances Eclipse Aviation Throttle Inspection Process

Under Revised FAA Airworthiness Directive, Eclipse 500 Throttle Quadrant Assembly can be tested during next service period
ALBUQUERQUE, NM - ALBUQUERQUE, NM .- The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued an updated Airworthiness Directive (AD) for the Eclipse 500® fleet of aircraft manufactured by Eclipse Aviation® offering clarification on how the aircraft’s Throttle Quadrant Assembly (TQA) should be inspected.

Today’s AD replaces the prior emergency AD, which was issued by the FAA on June 12, 2008. Under the new AD, Eclipse 500 aircraft tested under the previous AD can complete Eclipse TQA testing during their next scheduled aircraft maintenance visit or within the next 60 days. Aircraft that were not previously inspected must be tested under the new AD within 30 days. The aircraft owner is given up to 10 hours of flight time to reposition the airplane for the inspection. Eclipse has created a special suite of tools to efficiently conduct these tests at Eclipse Service Centers or Eclipse-designated facilities. If the TQA fails the inspection, the TQA must be replaced before the next flight.

Eclipse sent the Service Bulletin to customers today explaining how to comply with the AD. Eclipse recently announced its plan to increase the TQA range limit to prevent the fault condition. These changes will be administered via a simple software update to all Eclipse 500 owners and operators. Eclipse has already completed detailed software requirements and is working closely with its suppliers to develop an implementation schedule. Eclipse expects FAA certification on the software update in early Q4.