Doors: Passenger/Crew Doors, Tensator Springs of the Door Actuator

FAA Aviation Safety SPECIAL AIRWORTHINESS INFORMATION BULLETIN SAIB: NM-11-34 SUBJ: Doors: Passenger/Crew Doors, Tensator Springs of the Door Actuator Date: May 17, 2011 This is information only. Recommendations aren’t mandatory.

Introduction

The Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) advises owners and operators of Bombardier, Inc. Model BD-700-1A10 and BD-700-1A11 airplanes of possible failure of one or more of the Tensator springs of the door actuator and subsequent uncontrolled opening and closing of the exit doors. This condition could result in injury to ground handlers and minor damage to the door and adjacent airplane structure.

Background

There have been several reports of faster than normal opening of the passenger/crew doors, caused by failure of one or more of four Tensator springs of the door actuator (part number GS321-0580-1), used for opening and closing the doors, including control of its rate of descent. Such uncontrolled opening could be hazardous to ground personnel, in addition to causing possible damage to the door and adjacent structure. Bombardier Inc. has revised its maintenance program to include temporary revisions to the maintenance manual that incorporate a repetitive discard task for the Tensator springs of the door actuator.

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.

Recommendations

The FAA recommends complying with the following guidance, in addition to reviewing approved maintenance procedures for Model BD-700-1A10 and BD-700-1A11 airplanes, to verify that the temporary revisions to Section 5-10-11 “Certification Maintenance Requirements” in Part 2 of Chapter 5 of Bombardier BD-700 Time Limits/Maintenance Check, as identified below, have been incorporated into the applicable airplane maintenance manual.

 Bombardier Temporary Revision 5-2-37, dated January 15, 2010 (for Model BD-700-1A10 airplanes).

 Bombardier Temporary Revision 5-2-2, dated January 15, 2010 (for Model BD-700-1A10 airplanes).

 Bombardier Temporary Revision 5-2-8, dated January 15, 2010 (for Model BD-700-1A11 airplanes).

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2 For Further Information Contact

Fabio Buttitta, Aerospace Engineer, Airframe and Mechanical Systems Branch, ANE-171, FAA, New York Aircraft Certification Office, 1600 Stewart Avenue, Suite 410, Westbury, New York 11590; phone: (516) 228-7303; fax: (516) 794-5531; email: [email protected].

For Related Service Information Contact

Bombardier Aerospace Inc., 400 Côte-Vertu Road West, Dorval, Québec H4S 1Y9, Canada; phone: (866) 538-1247; fax: (514) 855-8000 e-mail: [email protected]; Internet: http://www.bombardier.com.