SPECIAL AIRWORTHINESS INFORMATION BULLETIN

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

NM-08-12

January 30, 2008

This is information only. Recommendations aren’t mandatory.

Introduction

This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) advises you, aircraft owners, operators, maintenance organizations, and parts distributors, to inspect the Honeywell IVA-81A Traffic
Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS II) Traffic Advisory/Vertical Speed Indicators (TCAS/IVSI) for unapproved parts, and to repair to bring them back to conformance with type design.

Background

This SAIB is prompted by reports that some integrated vertical speed indicators (IVSI) failed because unapproved parts were used for maintenance and repair of the IVSI. The IVSI provides the aircraft vertical speed indication and visual display of Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) traffic and vertical speed guidance in the form of red/green bands during a TCAS resolution advisory. Failure of the IVSI can cause loss of vertical speed indication, and visual vertical guidance for TCAS maneuver (in case of a traffic conflict).

Since the TCAS aural advisories remain functional, and since a second TCAS/IVSI (for the other pilot) will typically be installed in airplanes utilizing this equipment, the FAA does not consider loss of the above functions on a single indicator to be an unsafe condition. However, in order to maintain the level of safety provided by a fully functional TCAS/IVSI, affected operators may want to take action to remove from service those units that may have been repaired using unapproved parts.

Recommendations

We recommend that you inspect your aircraft, aircraft records, and or parts inventories for Honeywell IVA-81A Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS II) Traffic Advisory/Vertical Speed Indicators (IVSI) that were serviced by Aeronautical Technology, Inc., and return them for repair to the following address (further information regarding Recall Notice 082506 may also be obtained at this address):

Aero Technology
3333 E. Spring St.
Long Beach, CA 90806
Ref: Recall Notice 082506

The units that are suspected to have improper maintenance are:

Part Number	Serial Number(s)
066-50001-0901	1830, 1968, 2105, 2540, 2996, 3158, 3368, 4025, 4063, 4412, 4427, 4613
066-50001-1001	1059, 1304, 1547, 1824, 1873, 2070, 2079, 2191, 2235, 2243, 2314, 2718, 2775, 2824, 3149, 3698, 3711, 3763, 3790, 3907, 3930, 3951, 4067, 4112, 4521, 5245, 5878, 5914, 6264, 6302, 6822, 8968, 10265, X7240
066-50001-1701	3265
066-50001-1801	3364, R4190, X1761
066-50001-1804	4796
066-50001-2704	3244
066-50001-3104	5521

For Further Information Contact

Tin Truong, Aerospace Engineer, FAA Seattle Aircraft Certification Office, 1601 Lind Avenue SW., Renton, WA 98057-3356; phone: (425) 917-6486; facsimile: (425) 917-6590; email: tin.truong@faa.gov.