FAA releases airworthiness concern sheet for stabilator horn cracks
February 7, 2011, 05:22 pm
The Federal Aviation Administration has released a concern sheet warning about the potential cracking of stabilator horns on Piper-PA-24 Commanche models, the organization announced.
The cracking can most likely be caused by in-service stress corrosion, which the FAA says was confirmed by metallurgy tests performed by the National Institute for Aviation Research.
The FAA is encouraging those with more information regarding this problem to contact the group. If it discovers through reports that the problem may be more severe than originally expected, they might issue an Airworthiness Directive instead, which is a more urgent warning that would require immediate correction of the problem.
Though there have yet to be any in-flight problems reported as a result of stabilator horn cracking, being unaware of the potential for this to occur might have life-threatening results. "This condition, if undetected, could result in a potential safety of flight hazard such as loss of pitch control," the group warned.
Flight safety is an everlasting concern for pilots, and the airworthiness announcements by the FAA can only go so far in protecting aviators from fatal accidents. As such, life insurance for pilots can help their families deal with the consequences of losing their loved one in a plane crash.
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