The US Federal Aviation Administration is mandating additional checks of the elevator control systems on a wide variety of US-registered Embraer ERJ-145 family regional jets after reports that an ERJ-145 "did not rotate in response to the command from the yoke" during take-off.
Analysis of the aircraft after the rejected take-off incident revealed that both elevator control rods in the ERJ-145 had broken, a problem thought to be linked to the effects of "gale-force winds" on parked aircraft, says the FAA.
The FAA and Embraer had tried to address similar problems in 2005 through an Embraer service bulletin and an airworthiness directive after cracks had been found in the elevator control systems of certain aircraft equipped with mechanical gust locks.
Along with repetitive inspections, the AD called for eventual replacement of the mechanical gust-lock system with an electromechanical version, an upgrade not performed on the aircraft in the latest incident.
The new AD, issued last week, parallels an Embraer SB issued in December. It calls for a one-time detailed inspection of the elevator and control movements within 20 flight hours of 14 February, the date the AD comes into force regular visual inspections of the elevator system before the first flight of each day and repetitive detailed inspections every 600h.
Aircraft exposed to wind gusts of more than 50kt (93km/h) while parked on the ground or aircraft parked without gust locks engaged must be inspected before further flight, says the FAA.
Source: Flight International
