FAA Wants To Add Cardinals To Cessna Spar AD

The FAA wants to expand the AD requiring inspection of the carry-through spars on Cessna 210s to more models of that type and to some versions of the 177 Cardinal. The agency issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking requiring inspection of the spars on almost 2,000 additional aircraft that were captured by an earlier AD that took effect a year ago. Specifically, the NPRM, which will be open to public comments until June 25, now includes 3,421 U.S. aircraft models 210N, 210R, P210N, P210R, T210N, T210R, 177, 177A, 177B, 177RG, and F177RG.

The original AD applied to older 210s but since then examples have been found in newer models and the Cardinals. Operators must perform “visual and eddy current inspections of the [carry-through] spar lower cap, corrective action if necessary, application of a protective coating and corrosion inhibiting compound (CIC), and reporting the inspection results to the FAA.” Each inspection will cost about $1827.50 according to FAA calculations.