FAA and Brazil’s ANAC order ’emergency’ inspections of Legacy and Praetor trim actuators
By Jon Hemmerdinger
Brazilian and US aviation authorities have issued emergency airworthiness directives (ADs) to address a potential problem affecting pitch trim actuators on Embraer’s family of Legacy and Praetor midsize business jets.
The regulators are requiring operators to quickly complete checks of the actuators on all EMB-545 and EMB-550-model jets.
Embraer’s -545 series includes its Legacy 450 and succeeding Praetor 500, while the -550 series includes the Legacy 500 and follow-on Praetor 600.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued its emergency order on 20 April, several days after Brazil’s regulator ANAC issued its own directive.
Both orders are effective on 20 April and respond to “reports of failures on one load path of the pitch trim actuator of the airplane horizontal stabiliser”, says the FAA.
It notes that the issue was uncovered during scheduled maintenance.
“This failure increases the risk of failure on both load paths of the pitch trim actuator, and may leave the airplane horizontal stabiliser free to move according to aerodynamic loads, which may result in loss of control of the airplane,” the FAA warns.
Embraer says it is working closely with regulators to address the issue.
“The directive stems from isolated findings identified during routine maintenance testing and is not associated with any in-service safety events or operational disruptions,” Embraer says. “The Praetor’s redundant system architecture ensures continued safe operation, and the required action involves a straightforward operational verification. The global fleet continues to operate normally, and production aircraft are not affected.”
The orders require operators to check pitch trim actuators on the jets and replace failed components, as specified in a service bulletin issued by Embraer on 8 April.
The regulators are requiring operators of some jets to complete the checks with 10 flight cycles or 20 flight hours, whichever occurs later, while others have 50 cycles or 75 flight hours to comply. Operators must report findings from their checks to ANAC and Embraer.
“The inspection reports required by this AD would enable the manufacturer to obtain better insight into the nature, cause and extent of the unsafe condition and eventually to develop final action to address the unsafe condition,” the FAA says, adding that it may follow up its emergency AD with later regulatory action.
The global fleet of in-service Legacy and Praetor business jets includes 431 aircraft, among them 16 Legacy 450s, 84 Legacy 500s, 180 Praetor 500s and 151 Praetor 600s, according to fleet data provider Cirium.
Embraer has “issued a service bulletin to collect additional in-service data and an operational bulletin outlining an alternative means of compliance, reflecting its disciplined approach to product monitoring and early engagement with regulators”, the company adds.
