According to Pratt there are no engine failures on record attributable to HP fuel pump malfunction. However, Pratt and Whitney issued a Service Information Letter in September 2004 regarding power roll backs in the PC12. The cause of the power losses were attributed to a defect in the copper-beryllium bellows in the FCU that resulted in a leak in the bellows assembly. Although the bellows is common to many PT6 variants, the Cu/Be bellows is unique to single engine installations to accommodate the MOR.
Pilatus is currently collecting data on the roll backs and MOR operation procedures will likely be modified. They have found that at low altitude some of the roll backs due to Py leaks are very rapid and probably not recoverable by MOR operation.
I can only speculate about the plane in Indiana, but I'm sure the FCU is a suspect for the “engine malfunction.”
Also, rumor has it the PC12 that went down in the Sea of Okhotsk in 2001 washed a shore in Russia last November. The owner/pilot was reportedly very unhappy upon hearing the news. If true, it is astonishing that the airframe floated for so long, especially in light of the report that the pilot and pax exited the plane through the cabin door allowing water in to the cabin and cockpit.
I would have thought the owner would be at least mildly happy about the Swiss flotsam coming ashore. Unless, he had reason to want it to sink, or perhaps this complicates insurance issues; maybe he was just done with it. I don't know. I'm sure Pratt and Pilatus are quite pleased the plane has surfaced (so to speak).
Has anybody else heard this rumor?
Last edited by Full of Foehn; 4th Jan 2005 at 18:46.