Eclipse Developing Thrust Lever Software Fix

By Stephen Pope

June 26, 2008
Avionics, Aircraft, Safety

Eclipse Aviation said extra margin added to the Eclipse 500’s thrust lever forward range of motion should prevent the levers from being pushed beyond their design limits during normal operation. The software fix now under development comes in response to an FAA emergency AD issued on June 12 that called for thrust-lever inspections and revised procedures in more than 200 Eclipse 500s after an out-of-control thrust incident at Chicago Midway Airport on June 5.

The pilot of Eclipse 500 N612KB apparently moved the thrust levers forward with enough force to cause the engines’ Fadec to believe a control failure had occurred. Eclipse said more than 80 percent of the in-service fleet has undergone thrust-lever inspections, with similar anomalies found so far in two other Eclipse 500s.

Eclipse plans to increase the range limit of the thrust-lever assembly enough to prevent the fault condition, pending approval of the software update by the FAA. Eclipse CEO Vern Raburn said the manufacturer is working closely with the NTSB and FAA “to understand this condition fully, and put the necessary design improvements in place to safeguard our customers and our fleet.

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