EAA Studying Proposed Piper AD Impact

December 21, 2018 — The EAA advocacy team is reviewing an FAA proposal for an airworthiness directive (AD) to be published in the Federal Register on Friday, December 21, which could affect a large segment of the Piper Aircraft single-engine fleet.

This proposal will be open for a 45-day public comment window. The FAA action proposes recurring lower wing spar cap inspections on a number of Piper PA-28 and PA-32 models.

EAA CEO and Chairman of the Board Jack J. Pelton immediately contacted Piper Aircraft CEO Simon Caldecott to discuss the background and impact of the proposed AD and to share technical information in the weeks ahead. Pelton also offered to relay any essential information to EAA members regarding any action needed by those members who own Piper aircraft named as part of the proposed AD.

“As this is still a proposal for an airworthiness directive, it is very important to carefully review the FAA’s proposal to see if it first properly meets any safety considerations, while at the same time ensuring that it does not unnecessarily burden affected aircraft owners and operators,” Pelton said. “We will be closely working with experts on these aircraft in the coming weeks to review the proposal. After that review, EAA can knowledgeably determine if specific comments should be made to the docket on behalf of our members.”

EAA members who have reviewed the AD proposal may comment to the FAA docket and, if they want to do so, copy those comments to EAA’s advocacy team at govt@eaa.org.