FAA grounds Tamarack's ATLAS

SANDPOINT — The Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday it is immediately grounding Cessna airplanes fitted with winglets manufactured by Sandpoint-based Tamarack Aerospace Group.

The FAA’s airworthiness directive follows a similar emergency directive issued by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in April. Both directives come amid a National Transportation Safety Board investigation into a deadly crash that claimed three lives in southern Indiana in 2018.

The FAA directive focuses on Tamrack’s active load alleviation system, also known as ATLAS, which is designed to improve climb capability and fuel efficiency by reducing drag. The system is composed of a wing extension with an upturned winglet and an additional flight-control surface.

The directive grounds Cessna/Textron Aviation models 525, 525A and 525B if they utilize ATLAS.

The European Union directive noted recent occurrences in which ATLAS appeared to have malfunctioned, which caused pilots in five instances to struggle to regain control of the plane. The EASA directive further noted that the NTSB is investigating ATLAS’s involvement in a fatal crash of a Model 525A.

Five weeks after the EASA directive, the FAA determined that an unsafe condition exists requiring immediate implementation of the domestic airworthiness directive.

“This unsafe condition could lead to loss of control of the airplane with consequent loss of life. The severity of the risk warrants compliance before further flight,” The FAA directive said.

Tamrack’s vice president of marketing, Paul Hathaway, did not respond to a media inquiry on Friday.

The NTSB preliminary report in the fatal crash makes no mention of ATLAS, although the Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association is linking the system to a Nov. 30, 2018, crash in Memphis, Indiana, according to the Louisville Courier Journal. The crash killed three people, including Louisville City FC co-founder Wayne Estopinal.

The craft was climbing to 6,000 feet mean sea level when it began a left turn, descended and disappeared from radar with no distress message over the radio, according to NTSB’s preliminary report. The aviation accident report indicates the Cessna struck treetops in a slightly rugged, wooded area and was found on the ground broken into numerous pieces.

Residents near the crash site told law enforcement they heard an airplane flying low followed by a loud noise, according to the NTSB report.

The European airworthiness directive required ATLAS to be deactivated and the flight-control surface to be fixed in place, but the FAA opted to prohibit all flight until a modification method is developed and approved by the agency.

The FAA estimates the airworthiness directive affects 76 products of U.S. registry.

Hathaway told trade publication Aviation International News Online that the company is eagerly awaiting FAA’s approval of a service bulletin to return U.S. operators to flight, which he expected to be extended due to the holiday weekend and FAA’s sensitivity to reports of aircraft-control issues in light of deadly crashes involving the Boeing 737 MAX.

“Our customers are concerned, but they realized we’ve conducted ourselves in an open, honest, and transparent manner,” Hathaway told AIN Online. “Frankly, there’s a lot of frustration, but we’re confident we’ve brought the regulators up to speed on how our product works.”

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.