As investigation into the certification of the Eclipse 500 was launched by the Department of Transportation’s Inspector General after Federal Aviation Administration employees claimed the very light jet had known safety problems when it was approved in 2006, according to an article by USA Today’s Safety Editor Alan Levin. Levin quoted House Transportation Committee Spokesperson Jim Berard who said that Congress asked for the IG investigation, for which the Committee wants a briefing in weeks. The news comes as FAA has been facing increasing criticism since maintenance lapses were discovered at both Southwest and American.
The newspaper quoted Eclipse CEO Vern Raburn as saying the aircraft is in ‘"complete and total conformity" with federal regulations.’ Raburn characterized the complaint as a spillover from National Air Traffic Controllers Association’s (NATCA), which represents FAA engineers, running battle with the FAA. Recently, NATCA warned of problems with incorporating VLJs in the airspace, but a close examination of complaints revealed they were still stuck on assumptions that VLJs would blacken the skies and actually experienced no problems integrating DayJet’s aircraft. Related Story
Recently, the Eclipse 500 was grounded owing to an engine fault. Related Story It was also cleared for flight into icing recently. Related Story
Engineers and test pilots were concerned about the aircraft before certification, according to Levin, which prompted the union to file a grievance, just after the 2006 certification, charging the approval came despite "several outstanding safety/regulatory issues." The agency denied the grievance but the union will bring the matter, which does not specify the problems with the jet, to arbitration.