The US Federal Aviation Administration plans to require operators of over 400 McDonnell Douglas DC-10airliners and militarised KC-10A/KDC-10s in service worldwide to complete thrust reverser system safety modifications costing about $172 million.
The work includes installing new wiring and an additional thrust reverser locking system, as well as light systems changes to all US-registered aircraft. The FAA's proposed compliance time is five years from a final rule's effective date, but changes to the reverser position indicator light would need to be completed in 18 months.
The FAA says the proposed airworthiness directive "is prompted by a determination that the current thrust reverser systems do not adequately preclude unwanted deployment of a thrust reverser."
Boeing recently completed a new system safety analysis for DC-10s, which "identifies a number of latent [hidden] failures that could contribute to unwanted deployment of a wing engine thrust reverser in flight." A service bulletin in February described procedures for installing the additional thrust reverser locking system.
Meanwhile, the FedEx Pilots Association aims to stop the FAA approving the MD-10 and MD-11 for a common type rating. It alleges that the handling and systems differences are too great for a single type rating to be safe.
Source: Flight International
