New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has warned all operators of Boeing 737 aircraft to check for ‘jammed rudder control system’. The aviation regulator asked all operators to conduct a Safety Risk Assessment for aircraft to evaluate and mitigate the risk associated with the Rudder control system.
A US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Aviation investigation report had recently highlighted safety concerns involving Boeing 737 equipped with Collins Aerospace SVO-730 Rudder Rollout Guidance Actuators.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation issued safety recommendations to the Indian carriers against the backdrop of the potential risk of a jammed or restricted rudder control system. Currently, SpiceJet, Akasa Air, Air India Express, operate Boeing 737 planes.
“Appropriate mitigations must be communicated to help crews identify and handle such a situation,” it added.
The regulatory body has directed all aircraft operators to conduct a safety risk assessment for aircraft to evaluate and mitigate the risk associated with the rudder control system in Boeing 737 planes.
The DGCA said that all Category III B approach, i.e., operations in low visibility conditions, like landing, including practice or actual autoland, and rollout operations, must be discontinued for these planes until further notice.
The aviation regulator has directed the airlines to include discussion about potential rudder control system issues as a mandatory topic in recurrent training sessions. It also stated that these sessions will be a mandatory part of pre-simulator briefings, which is known as Instrument Rating/Proficiency Checks (IR/PPC) .
“Operators have been instructed to include specific exercises in Recurrent Training and IR/PPC that simulate scenarios involving a jammed or restricted rudder control system, including rollout procedures.
“Appropriate flight crew responses and mitigations should be practised during these exercises,” the regulator said in a release.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued advisory to airlines on potential rudder system issue in Boeing 737 planes. Biz News Business News – Personal Finance News, Share Market News, BSE/NSE News, Stock Exchange News Today
