The bulletin
Text extracted from the PDF.
SPECIAL
AIRWORTHINESS
INFORMATION
BULLETIN Aircraft Certification Service Washington, DC U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration No. CE-01-04 November 8, 2000 We post SAIBs on the internet at "av-info.faa.gov" This is information only. Recommendations are not mandatory.
Introduction This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) provides safety information to you, an owner or operator, of PZL-BIELSKO Model SZD-45A sailplanes on the following:
• POSSIBLE CRACK IN THE MALOFF PROPELLER Background The FAA received a safety recommendation on PZL-Bielsko Model SZD-45A sailplanes of a potential unsafe condition. There was recently an occurrence of an in-flight propeller failure of the shank on the Maloff Model C-4.5BX58. Initial inspection revealed that the propeller blade had separated from the hub. Furthermore, the operator of the subject sailplane contacted an associate that owns an identical model aircraft to warn him of this incident. The owner of the second aircraft inspected his propeller and found a crack in the propeller hub.
Recommendation Based on the recent service history, we, the FAA, recommend that you inspect the propeller and hub assembly for any signs of cracks. We advised the manufacturer of these recent service issues.
General Information We provide this information as a courtesy to PZL-Bielsko Model SZD-45A owners/operators because this is a potential safety issue. We do not issue Airworthiness Directives for sailplanes that do not have a U.S. type certificate. We will not track or enforce this safety issue. We do not use SAIBs to track all safety related items for non-type certificated products.
For Further Information Contact Mike Kiesov, Aerospace Engineer, FAA, Small Airplane Directorate, 901 Locust, Kansas City, Missouri, 64106; telephone: (816) 329-4144; fax: (816) 329-4090; e-mail: mike.kiesov@faa.gov.