Airworthiness Concern Sheet

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U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration Airworthiness Concern Sheet Date: August 16, 2024 Reply to: Name: Kristi Bradley Title: Aviation Safety Coordinator Office: Operational Safety Branch Street Address: 10101 Hillwood Pkwy City, State, ZIP: Fort Worth, TX 76177 Telephone: 817-222-5485 Electronic Mail: Kristin.Bradley@faa.gov Make: Cirrus Model / Series: SR20/SR22/SR22T Serial Numbers: Reason for Airworthiness Concern: Loss of Thrust Control due to Power Lever Failure Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Description of Airworthiness Concern The FAA recently received a report of a power lever failure on a Cirrus SR20 airplane. While advancing to full throttle in preparation for takeoff, the power lever sheared and the pilot quickly cut fuel to the aircraft and aborted the takeoff. The fleet operator subsequently inspected the remainder of their aircraft and found cracks in 24 of the levers through visual and dye penetrant inspections. Time in Service for the fleet ranged from 2900 to 3900 hours. The aircraft are utilized in a training environment and contained on average 12,000 to 15,000 landings. The failure and cracks were noted to occur at the region of the lever that has the smallest cross section. Photos of the failed power lever and crack indications from others in the fleet are shown on the following page. The FAA and Cirrus are currently investigating this concern. Request for Information The FAA is interested in receiving any information on damage, cracks, or known failures observed on the power levers in Cirrus SR20/SR22/SR22T airplanes. We recommend operators inspect this area and please provide information including description of damage, available photos, airplane serial number, time in service, and any prior replacement of the throttle assembly or power lever. Please provide any other information you feel may be helpful for us to consider as part of our evaluation. This Airworthiness Concern Sheet (ACS) is intended as a means for FAA Aviation Safety Engineers to coordinate airworthiness concerns with aircraft owners/operators through associations and type clubs. At this time, the FAA has not made a determination on what type of corrective action (if any) should be taken. The resolution of this airworthiness concern could involve Airworthiness Directive (AD) action or a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB), or the FAA could determine that no action is needed at this time. The FAA’s final determination will depend in part on the information received in response to this ACS. The FAA endorses dissemination of this technical information to all manufacturers and requests association and type club comments. Attachments: Service Difficulty Report Accident/Incident Data System Service Letter / Bulletin Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin Federal Aviation Administration or National Transportation Safety Board Safety Recommendation Airworthiness Directive Alternate Means of Compliance Risk Analysis Transmittal: Federal Aviation Administration Airplane Owners and Pilots Association Experimental Aircraft Association Type Club Type Certificate Holder Other: Response Requested By: Emergency (10 days) Alert (30 days) Information (90 days) Figure 1. Upper power lever failure. Figure 2. Sample cracks found with visual and fluorescent penetrant inspection.