DGCA issues safety recommendations to airlines over potential risk of faulty rudder control systems in Boeing 737 planes
India’s aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Monday issued safety recommendations to all Indian airlines that operate the Boeing 737 –including Air India Express, Akasa Air, and SpiceJet — about the potential risk of faulty rudder control systems.
Among other measures, airlines have been asked to include safety risk assessment of the aircraft mandatorily.
The advisory follows safety concerns flagged by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) regarding Boeing 737 aircraft lanes equipped with Collins Aerospace SVO-730 Rudder Rollout Guidance Actuators.
“All flight crews are to be informed through a circular/advisory regarding the possibility of a jammed or restricted Rudder control system. Appropriate mitigations must be communicated to help crews identify and handle such a situation,” the DGCA said in a statement on Monday.
It further read: “All operators must conduct a Safety Risk Assessment for aircraft to evaluate and mitigate the risk associated with the Rudder control system.”
The rudder is a primary flight control surface that controls the rotation of the aircraft’s vertical axis, a movement referred to as yaw.
