The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is alerting owners and operators of Vulcanair/Partenavia P.68 aircraft of a European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) proposal to issue an airworthiness directive (PAD) to mandate an inspection of the aircraft's upper rudder hinge.
The proposed AD, which was issued in October, would mandate inspections of the hinge in accordance with Service letter 23, revision 2, dated 29 September 2021 and the aircraft's maintenance manual.
It follows the ATSB's publication of an Occurrence Brief report into a flight control system failure involving a Vulcanair P.68C near Brisbane, Queensland, on 11 April 2021. As the aircraft taxied to the apron after the flight, the pilot had difficulty controlling the aircraft's direction and advised that the rudder seemed jammed.
A post-flight inspection revealed that the top rudder hinge had failed.
The PAD is applicable to all P.68 Victor, P.68B Victor, P.68R Victor, P.68C, P.68C-TC, P.68 Observer, P.68 Observer 2 and P.68TC Observer aircraft.
