Status of Wing Investigation

[kmtmd]

Does anyone have information about the current status of the investigations into the Monmouth, New Jersey and Avon Park, Florida crashes? Does anyone have any insight as to whether or not we can anticipate a future wing inspection and/or repair AD affecting more airplanes than the previous AD affecting the Aviation Enterprises' modified wings? Thanks.

Kate

[hharney]

Hi Kate
I would start with the link below. There is good information about the wings and the different types and why one might be affected vs the other. I have not heard of anything else pertaining to the Avon Park incident but the aircraft in that crash did not have AE wing extensions. I suspect that is why you are asking the question. The New Jersey incident took some time, as all the NTSB investigations do, so I would guess that we have not seen enough time for the NTSB to make any final rulings for the Avon Park incident.


http://www.337skymaster.com/messages...ead.php?t=2771

[kmtmd]

Thank you for the reference to the very informative SID thread.

My greatest fear at this point is that the proposed SID might become an AD, especially in light of the fact that the Avon Park crash apparently involved a plane with an unmodfied wing. I am very worried that an AD, with the scope of the previously proposed SID, could cost more to comply with that the current value of some planes. Are my fears justified?

Kate

[jchronic]

I don't know about 'fears,' but at least 'attention' and maybe 'concern' are appropriate. Having just laid out north of $100K to purchase and equip a C337 for an aerial survey business, I'm certainly watching the situation.

On the one hand is the example of a pretty hard-rode 337 in our hangar that just had the 5000 hour AD inspection and came out clean - as I understand they all have so far. And, my gut feeling is that most if not all of the wing failure accidents have had some specific causal factor apart from the basic integrity of the airframe, e.g. unattended to corrosion, too much yanking and banking, a wing mod that didn't work out, etc. etc.

On the other hand are the forces of bureacracy (FAA) and fear of liability (Cessna) that could drive the situation somewhere not really justified by pure safety concerns. So, who knows?

On balance, I remain cautiously optimistic that reason will ultimately prevail and we can continue to (semi?) affordably fly these very useful airplanes into the foreseeable future.

Capt Ahab

[jchronic]

I guess one more thought, Kate, while I'm ruminating on-line: You made reference to an AD possibly costing more than the airplane is worth. Definitely a valid point, but it touches on another discussion had here not long ago about recouping your investment in your airplane.

Like a lot of depreciable durable goods (automobiles, e.g.), getting all or most of your money back out of an airplane is a questionable goal. I have a nicely maintained Skybolt that I'll likely take a loss on when/if I ever sell it; but I can afford to keep it up (for now) and getting all my investment back out of it isn't a consideration. Likewise an old classic car I play with.

If we get hit with a wing (or any other AD), my personal decision will come down to whether I need to/want to continue flying the Skymaster and can afford to do so - even if I'll never recover the total investment.

Capt Ahab