Electrical - Airplane Flight Manual- Lightning Strike Procedures- Amendment

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FAA Aircraft Certification Service SPECIAL AIRWORTHINESS INFORMATION BULLETIN SAIB: CE-08-45 SUBJ: Electrical - Airplane Flight Manual- Lightning Strike Procedures- Amendment Date: September 3, 2008 This is information only. Recommendations aren’t mandatory.

Introduction

This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) alerts you of an airworthiness concern for Diamond Aircraft Industries Inc. Models DA 42 and DA 42M airplanes, all serial numbers.

Background

The European Aviation Safety Authority (EASA) has issued their Airworthiness Directive (AD) No. 2008-0136 dated July 22, 2008, which prohibits intentional flights into known thunderstorms on Diamond Aircraft Industries Inc. Models DA 42 and DA 42 M airplanes, all serial numbers, that are registered for operation in Europe. Some airplanes recently experienced lightning strikes of unusually high levels over the design requirement, which resulted in damage not visible to the pilot. This condition, if not corrected, may lead to loss of control or additional damage even if the airplane is operated within the flight envelope.

To address this risk, Diamond Aircraft Industries has developed additional aircraft flight manual (AFM) procedures to be applied in case of lightning strike, including an airspeed limitation and certain procedures to avoid additional loads to the structure. Diamond Aircraft Industries (DAI) issued Temporary Revision TR-MAM-42-270, dated May 31, 2008, which specifies incorporation of this temporary revision into the airplane flight manual as an interim action.

At this time, this airworthiness concern is not an unsafe condition that would warrant AD action under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR) part 39.

Recommendation

We recommend you do the following:

1. Within 30 days after the publication of this SAIB, amend the applicable AFM to incorporate the new lightning strike procedure following the instructions contained in DAI Temporary Revision TR-MAM-42-270.

2. Insert a copy of this Temporary Revision TR-MAM-42-270 into the DA 42 and DA 42M AFM.

For Further Information Contact

Sarjapur Nagarajan, Aerospace Engineer, FAA Small Airplane Directorate, Room 301, 901 Locust, Kansas City, Missouri 64106; phone: (816) 329-4145; fax: (816) 329-4090; email: [email protected]

2 For Service Related information Contact

Mr. Robert Kremnitzer Office of Airworthiness Diamond Aircraft Industries N.A. Otto-Strasse 5 A-2700 Wiener Neustadt Austria