Overview
- The recommendation covers operators of 10 Learjet models, affecting about 1,883 aircraft in service.
- The NTSB seeks required compliance with Bombardier’s March service bulletins, which call for an estimated two-hour inspection of the main gear installation.
- A separate recommendation asks Bombardier to mandate a post-maintenance visual check verifying the aft trunnion pin and retaining bolt are correctly engaged.
- Bombardier reports only about 12% of the affected jets have been inspected, while the FAA declined in July to issue an airworthiness directive, a decision the NTSB criticizes as insufficient.
- The action stems from the Feb. 10 Scottsdale runway excursion that killed the Learjet 35A captain after the left main gear separated due to a misinstalled retaining bolt, with similar cases noted in 1995, 2001, and 2008.