On Monday, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued a Flight Condition Approval Sheet (FCAS) which outlines procedures to conduct ferry flights on the Falcon 7X for European registered aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a similar approval on Tuesday, an Alternative Method of Compliance (AMOC), to authorize ferry flights for U.S. registered aircraft.
Dassault’s investigation has confirmed that the Falcon 7X control laws operated normally which has allowed development of a safe ferry procedure using Digital Flight Control System (DFCS) normal mode. The on-site investigation of the aircraft that experienced the anomaly is complete but did not reveal the root cause. Further analysis of the trim control equipment from that aircraft is underway at Dassault Aviation laboratories in France.
Background:
On Wednesday, May 25, 2011 a Falcon 7X experienced a pitch trim event during descent. The crew successfully recovered the aircraft to a stable flight profile and performed an uneventful landing.
At Dassault request, the EASA issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive to prohibit Falcon 7X Operations on May 26 and the FAA followed on May 27. The request to stop flight operations immediately was the result of a conservative assessment by Dassault.
