I wrote a piece recently entitled “The Glorious Insanity of Airplane Ownership,” and this week the “insanity” has reared its ugly head in the form of required inspections and perhaps repairs to thousands of Piper PA-28s and PA-32s.
The sense of urgency about this one is understandable. It was undertaken in response to what the NTSB found as it was investigating the crash of a Piper PA-28 Arrow when one of the plane’s wings came off in flight in Florida in April of 2018, while the pilot was on a commercial checkride with an examiner. Both were killed in the crash.
In the aftermath, the NTSB found that the wing spar had cracks, which led to the crash.
It’s every pilot’s worst nightmare—a catastrophic structural failure in flight—so something needed to be done. The balance is always between doing too much, which could ground big segments of the GA fleet, or too little, which. . . well, we know what can happen unless problems are addressed.
Suffice it to say that this AD is going to keep mechanics busy and owners with their checkbooks at the ready. Again. The FAA estimates the inspection will cost $170, which isn’t going to break any airplane owner’s bank. Installing new access panels on the underside of the wing is optional, an option projected by the FAA at $730, and it’s one that most owners are likely to skip. After all, borescopes can get the job done. What doesn’t get said is how much it will cost if there is damage found. To say that it could get, to use a friend’s favorite term, “pricey,” is an understatement.
And remember that this is in addition to ADs the FAA published recently on many thousands of legacy Cessna aircraft for problems found in their tails, wings and strut attach points.
The point the FAA is making is the same as the one I’ve previously made here. Our segment is built on a fleet of aging aircraft, a great many of them between 50 and 75 years old. We love what we do, and it’s a good thing, too, because staying on top of our planes and keeping them safely flying simply ain’t going to be getting any cheaper.
