Curtesy of Avweb
NEW PROBLEMS FROM LYCOMING...
An October 1 emergency airworthiness directive (AD) grounds Lycoming
540-series engines until a possibly-faulty retaining bolt is replaced.
The new AD applies to some 3,900 engines in planes built by 23
manufacturers. Lycoming says it has enough of the replacement bolts in
stock to handle the oncoming deluge. The AD was prompted by two recent
crankshaft gear retaining bolt failures resulting in two deaths. Pilots
and operators will have 10 hours time in service after the receipt of
the AD or seven days after the receipt of the AD (whichever is earliest)
to comply. Monday, AVweb detailed a laundry list of Texton Lycoming
crankshaft problems, emergency inspection orders, Mandatory Service
Bulletins and emergency recalls and warned beleaguered Lycoming
540-series owners trouble was coming in October -- well, it's October.
Wheeler
5th Oct 2002, 16:39
Is this all 540's? - or the same group as the last AD?
Cyclic Hotline
5th Oct 2002, 17:05
You can read the SB directly from the Textron Lycoming site. (http://www.lycoming.textron.com/main.jsp)
Cyclic Hotline
9th Oct 2002, 03:51
NTSB Launches Probe of Textron Engine Failures
Thu Sep 26,12:43 AM ET
In a sign of deepening trouble for Textron Inc. federal crash investigators have launched a probe into why the company failed to alert aircraft owners and pilots to flaws in its Lycoming aircraft engines, which are believed to have caused at least two serious accidents since June, Thursday's Wall Street Journal reported, citing government and industry officials.
The Federal Aviation Administration ( news - web sites) previously issued three emergency recalls since February related to other problems with the Lycoming engines. Now the agency is poised to mandate immediate fixes for another serious quality-control problem: substandard crankshaft bolts used to help drive propellers on hundreds of Piper and Cessna general-aviation planes, these officials said.
The FAA order expected Friday is slated to require replacement of crankshaft gear bolts on more than 1,000 six-cylinder Lycoming engines built between late 1996 and the summer of 1998. The FAA's previous recalls and emergency inspection orders related to different crankshaft defects on almost 2,000 additional engines used in Pipers and Cessnas. Some planes may have both sets of problems.
These officials say that as part of the latest probe, investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board ( news - web sites) are also delving into the sequence of events that first alerted the Lycoming unit and the FAA about severe problems with bolt failures on helicopter engines three and a half years ago. Investigators want to know why the initial problems failed to prompt public inspections or warnings that the same bolts could cause engine failures on general aviation aircraft. Several aerobatic aircraft later suffered bolt failures, but again there wasn't any public disclosure, the NTSB ( news - web sites) has found. If such bolts break, the engines immediately lose all power.
A safety board spokesman said it is "aware of the issue [of substandard bolts] and is looking into it." An FAA spokeswoman confirmed the agency is "working on an airworthiness directive" to deal with the suspect bolts. A spokeswoman for Textron, Providence, R.I., said: "We are working closely and cooperating with the FAA to address this issue, as the safety of our customers is paramount."
In the past three months at least five people have been killed and three others, including two children, have been badly hurt in the U.S. as a result of abrupt Lycoming engine failures. The safety board also is investigating several other fatalities overseas that may be linked to the same cluster of engine problems.