Aircraft
Certification Service Washington, DC U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration
CE-09-41
July 22, 2009
This is information only. Recommendations
aren’t mandatory.
Introduction
This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin is being issued to
advise you of an airworthiness concern on Hawker Beechcraft Model 390
airplanes. Specifically, it recommends the replacement of the goose
neck type latches on the aft baggage and maintenance doors (four on
each door) per Service Bulletin SB 52-3864.
At this time, this airworthiness concern is not considered an unsafe
condition that would warrant an airworthiness directive (AD) action
under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR part 39).
Background
Since 2003, the Model 390 fleet has experienced the loss of a total
of 10aft baggage doors in flight. Although the safety effect on the
airplanes to date has been minor, a lost door does typically cause some
damage to the aft fuselage and engine cowling, and also poses a risk to
persons or property on the ground. In an effort to eliminate future
occurrences of lost doors, the manufacturer has redesigned the latches
to a different rotary pin style latch. A large number of the fleet of
Model 390 airplanes has now been retrofitted with the new latch design
and, since that time, there have been no instances of lost doors for
those aircraft that have incorporated Service Bulletin 52-3864.
Recommendations
For the reasons stated above, the FAA recommends that Service
Bulletin 52-3864 be incorporated on all Hawker Beechcraft Model 390
airplanes. In the interim, we recommend that pilots operating airplanes
with the original-style latches refer to Hawker Beechcraft Safety
Communique #279 Rev. 1 and the instructional video referenced therein
for more information and the recommended process for closing and
inspecting an aft baggage/maintenance door with for proper security. In
addition, all pilots are reminded of their responsibility to verify
that the cabin door, baggage doors, engine cowlings, and fuel caps have
been latched securely before flight.