SAIB NM-06-40 —

NM-06-40 April 14, 2006 http://www.faa.gov/aircraft/safety/alerts/SAIB This is information only. Recommendations aren’t mandatory.

Introduction

This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin alerts you, owners and operators, repair stations, mechanics holding Inspection Authorization (IA) and Flight Standard District Office (FSDO) Principal Maintenance Inspectors (PMI) and/or Principal Avionics Inspectors (PAI) of service difficulties and safety issues associated with Loral F800 Flight data recorders for the Saab Aircraft AB Model (SAAB-FAIRCHILD) SAAB 340 series airplanes.

Background

The Loral F800 fight data recorders installed in the SAAB 340 aircraft do not reliably record the required parameters required by 14 CFR Part 121.343 at the most critical stages of flight, take off and climb-out. This problem may be due to the physical nature of the tape recording method and is alleviated with the installation of a solid-state flight recorder. Lack of data from the flight data recorder could hamper discovery of the cause of an accident or an incident and prevent us from developing and mandating actions to prevent additional accidents or incidents. Recommendation

We recommend that is you have fitted your airplane with Loral F800 flight data recorders, you should install solid state flight recorders that are better able to continuously meet the requirements of 14 CFR Part 121.343.

For Further Information Contact

Dan Rodina, FAA ANM-116, Transport Airplane Directorate, International Branch, 1601 Lind Avenue SW, Renton WA, 98055; phone: (425) 227-2125; email: [email protected].

For Service Information Contact

Honeywell Aerospace 21111 N. 19th Ave, Phoenix AZ, 85027; phone: (800) 601-3099; fax: (602) 365-3343

L3 Communications P.O. Box 3041 Sarasota FL, 34230-3041; phone: (941) 371-0811; fax: (941) 377-5598