BobDDuck
Island Bus Driver
Bombardier and the FAA continue to amaze me with how they are handling this issue.
Brief history:
The CRJ 200 is basically a stretch version of the Challenger Business Jet. This jet was designed for only a few cycles each day and the massive amount of use it gets daily operating as a CRJ tends to wear out some parts. One of these is the flap drive system. Basically the flaps are driven by two electric motors that sit in the central gear bay. They drive plastic flexshafts out to the actual flaps. There are skew sensors on the flaps and if they sense either side of the flap moving faster than the other OR 2%-3% differential between the flaps (there are two panels per wing) they apply a brake and stop the whole operation. The problem is the flexshafts break with alarming regularity due to a number of issues and it is laughably common to get a flap failure.
The other side of the equation is the fact that the CRJ200 has no leading edge devices so the approach speeds are on the high side. Couple this with a no or low flap approach and your Ref speeds can be very close to your max tire speed.
This issue came to a head when an Air Canada Jazz flight went missed out of some airport in BC (I think) and couldn't get the flaps to come out of 45 degrees (full flaps) during the go around. They then had to fly some 200 miles to their alternate with the flaps at 45 degrees and when they landed were about 5 minutes from fuel starvation.
The FAA implemented an AD at this point in time which basically says you can ONLY take the flaps out of 0 for an approach if you KNOW you are going to have the weather to land (like that is even possible) OR you have enough fuel to divert to your alternate with the flaps stuck at 45 degrees.
And then I find this in my company email
So, now the FAA has said that if the flaps break, it's ok to fix them by pulling breakers (remember most of the time the flap failure is simply the skew sensor activating the flap brake). And then it's ok to fly the thing 10 more times ASSUMING all conditions are met for a flapless landing where you are going (all your stopping and lift duming has to work, the runway can't be contminated and the runway is long enough for a flapless landing). Sounds like planning to fail to me.
/rant
Brief history:
The CRJ 200 is basically a stretch version of the Challenger Business Jet. This jet was designed for only a few cycles each day and the massive amount of use it gets daily operating as a CRJ tends to wear out some parts. One of these is the flap drive system. Basically the flaps are driven by two electric motors that sit in the central gear bay. They drive plastic flexshafts out to the actual flaps. There are skew sensors on the flaps and if they sense either side of the flap moving faster than the other OR 2%-3% differential between the flaps (there are two panels per wing) they apply a brake and stop the whole operation. The problem is the flexshafts break with alarming regularity due to a number of issues and it is laughably common to get a flap failure.
The other side of the equation is the fact that the CRJ200 has no leading edge devices so the approach speeds are on the high side. Couple this with a no or low flap approach and your Ref speeds can be very close to your max tire speed.
This issue came to a head when an Air Canada Jazz flight went missed out of some airport in BC (I think) and couldn't get the flaps to come out of 45 degrees (full flaps) during the go around. They then had to fly some 200 miles to their alternate with the flaps at 45 degrees and when they landed were about 5 minutes from fuel starvation.
The FAA implemented an AD at this point in time which basically says you can ONLY take the flaps out of 0 for an approach if you KNOW you are going to have the weather to land (like that is even possible) OR you have enough fuel to divert to your alternate with the flaps stuck at 45 degrees.
And then I find this in my company email
The FAA has issued a revision to the Flap AD on the CRJ-200. The latest
revsion (AD 2009-06-12) allows an on-ground flap system reset following an
in-flight flap failure.
A sucessful reset and systems check will allow the airplane to be dispatched
for 10 additional flight cycles.
The on-ground flap system reset must be coordinated with Maintenance
Control, and can be done on or off the gate.
The system reset procedure is documented in the administrative procedures
section of the CRJ-200 MEL (90-10-02) (latest revsion). A summary of the
procedure follows:
Flap system circuit breakers are reset.
Flaps are cycled up and down 5 times, prior to the first flight after the reset.
Prior to each flight after the reset, the flight crew must verify operation of the thrust reversers, ground spoilers and brakes.
Takeoffs or landings cannot occur on a contaminated runway.
Landing distance available at destination (and alternate, if required) must be equal to landing distance required for a flaps zero landing.
So, now the FAA has said that if the flaps break, it's ok to fix them by pulling breakers (remember most of the time the flap failure is simply the skew sensor activating the flap brake). And then it's ok to fly the thing 10 more times ASSUMING all conditions are met for a flapless landing where you are going (all your stopping and lift duming has to work, the runway can't be contminated and the runway is long enough for a flapless landing). Sounds like planning to fail to me.
/rant