SPECIAL AIRWORTHINESS INFORMATION BULLETIN

Aircraft Certification Service Washington, DC U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration

CE-10-17

February 23, 2010

This is information only. Recommendations aren’t mandatory.

Introduction

This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) alerts you, owners and operators of certain The New Piper Aircraft, Inc. models and serial numbers listed below, of our recommendation to incorporate Piper Service Bulletin (SB) 1199.

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

Background

AD 72-08-06 mandates periodic inspections of certain configurations of the four main landing gear (MLG) torque link assemblies to detect cracks adjacent to the 2.5-inch diameter machined boss.

Model Number	Serial Number
PA-28-140	28-20000 and up
PA-28-150/-160/-180	28-01 and up
PA-28-235	28-10000 and up
PA-32-260	32-01 and up
PA-32-300	32-40000 and up

Note: Serial Numbers prefixed by model year, such as 28-7120000, are included in the effectivity of AD 72-08-06.

This information is presented in response to an incident involving a Piper PA-28-140 aircraft used for flight training. After a failed landing attempt, it was discovered that the left landing gear torque link P/N 65691-00 had broken and allowed the strut/wheel assembly to depart the aircraft. Upon landing, the aircraft received damage to the left flap and upper gear. There were no injuries. A review of the incident aircraft’s logbook revealed that 500-hour repetitive inspections required by AD 72-08-06 were complied with 203.8 hours earlier.

Recommendations

The FAA recommends that owners and operators, who operate in conditions resulting in a high number of landings per flight hour or that experience hard landings, incorporate the more frequent inspections and new replacement time specified in Piper Service Bulletin 1199. Owners and operators must continue to comply with AD 72-08-06 as this SAIB does not affect the mandatory inspections of the AD.

Piper SB 1199 and SAIB CE-05-29R1 contain further information relevant to this issue.

For Further Information Contact

Gregory K. (“Keith”) Noles, Aerospace Engineer, Atlanta ACO, 1701 Columbia Ave., College Park, GA 30337; phone: (404) 474-5551; fax: (404) 474-5606; email: gregory.noles@faa.gov

For Related Service Information Contact

Piper Aircraft Inc., 2926 Piper Drive, Vero Beach, Florida, 32960; website: http://www.piper.com/