VERTICAL TAIL Aft Fin Attachment Fitting

1 FAA Aviation Safety SPECIAL AIRWORTHINESS INFORMATION BULLETIN SUBJ: VERTICAL TAIL – Aft Fin Attachment Fitting SAIB: CE-16-03 Date: October 9, 2015 This is information only. Recommendations aren’t mandatory.

Introduction

This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin is to alert owners, operators, and maintenance technicians and inspectors with a concern about cracked aft fin attachment fittings that affects all series of Cessna Models 150/152, A150/A152, FA150/FRA150/FA152, and F150/F152 airplanes that were produced from 1966 to 1986.

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

Background

Recently, Argentina Administración Nacional de Aviación Civil (ANAC) notified the FAA about two service difficulty reports (SDRs) on the aft fin attachment fitting, part number 0431009-1, -2 or -3, of Cessna 150 airplanes. The inspection that resulted in these SDRs was done following Cessna Supplemental Inspecion Document (SID) 55-11-02.

FAA and Textron Aviation (Cessna) have been aware of cracking of the aft fin attachment fitting; and have previously issued a number of airworthiness publications to inform owner, operators, and maintenance technicians and inspectors. Cessna issued Service Bulletins (SE74-10 and SE78-62) in addition to the specific inspections noted in the referenced SID. Additionally, the FAA issued AC 43- 16A, Aviation Maintenance Alert, Number 357, in April 2008 to remind inspectors to inspect the aft fin attachment fitting for cracks. Airplanes used for aerobatic use were noted to have a higher risk.

After notification of recent reports by ANAC, the FAA reviewed the history of this issue and examined the current inspections with Cessna for adequacy. Based on this review, Textron Aviation updated the Cessna SID as follows to address this concern:

Model-Series Service Man. (Years) SID Number SID Revision* SID Rev. Date* 150 (1963-68) 55-11-03 10 May 18, 2015 150 (1969-76) 55-11-02 8 May 18, 2015 150 (1977) 55-11-01 7 May 18, 2015 152 (1978-86) 55-11-02 8 May 18, 2015 *Later revisions than those shown are also acceptable.

2 Recommendations

We recommend that owners, operators, and maintenance technicians and inspectors visually inspect and confirm their findings using eddy current on the affected Cessna models utilizing aft fin attachment fitting, part numbers 0431009-1/-2/-3, for cracks and corrosion. This should be done repetitively at 100 hours intervals following inspection procedures described in the applicable Cessna SID located in the table of SIDs. Note that it may be beneficial for the inspection to be accomplished in conjunction with compliance to AD 80-11-04.

For Further Information Contact

Gary D. Park, Aerospace Engineer, ACE-118W phone: (316) 946-4123; fax: (316) 946-4107; e-mail: [email protected].

For Related Service Information Contact

Cessna Aircraft Company, Customer Support Service, P.O. Box 7706, Wichita, Kansas; telephone: (316) 517-5800; fax: (316) 517-7271.