RAT on Challengers
RAT on Challengers
An N reg Challenger 60 something has been on maintenance at Biggin for a couple of months and as part of the check it was required to do a test flight to check the operation of the RAT. When it landed it burst all 4 tyres, wrote off 4 wheels and brake units. Apart from pissing off Biggin operators by closing the airport for a few hours what I would be interested to learn from you Challenger guys is:
1/ The RAT is supposed to be a safety system, how come it did not live up to it's name on this occasion?
2/ Apparently the maintenance organisation placed their engineers on board and as this check would have been part of the scheduled inspection who is going to take responsibility for this incident? Is it the maintenance organisation? They presumably could not issue a maintenance release until after the satisfactory outcome of this check so technically they still had the duty of care on their shoulders. Or was it the pilots?
Wherever the blame lies I guess the lawyers and Insurance companies will slug it out as I presume the bill will not be cheap.
IMO post maintenance test flights are often carried out with not enough forethought as to what can go wrong and all too often something does go wrong. The CAA have an excellent flight test department who are only too willing to come out and fly your aircraft on test flights. I recommend them, you will learn a lot and the last time I used them the service was free!