Manufacturer
Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet grounded by FAA
Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet grounded by FAA. Sad news. Why? What happened? On April 18 an FAA emergency Airworthiness Directive (AD) on the Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet was issued. All Cirrus SF50 single-engine jets grounded for an immediate replacement of the aircraft’s angle of attack (AoA) vane.
"This emergency AD was prompted by Cirrus reporting three incidents on Cirrus Model SF50 airplanes of the stall warning and protection system (SWPS) or Electronic Stability & Protection (ESP) System engaging when not appropriate, with the first incident occuring in November 2018 and the latest in April 2019. The SWPS or ESP systems may engage even when sufficient airspeed and proper angle of attack (AOA) exists for normal flight."
Two days before, on April 16, Cirrus demanded all SF50 operators to replace istalled AoA vanes within the next five flight hours. However the FAA emergency AD tells quite different thing - "replacement before further flight". So by now all operators should schedule a replacement and ask for a special flight permit in order to fly to the facility where it will be done.