SCR Confirms FAA Made the Right Call in Certifying the Eclipse 500

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) concluded its Special Certification Review (SCR) for the Eclipse 500^® very light jet (VLJ). During the SCR, a team of FAA experts reviewed the FAA's certification of the Eclipse 500 and found that the airplane was certificated in accordance with all FAA requirements and safety regulations.

The results of the SCR confirmed what both Eclipse Aviation and the FAA ascertained at the beginning of the review; that the certification process of the Eclipse 500 jet was properly conducted.

As part of its findings, the SCR team recommended that the FAA improve policies and communication procedures used during the certification process for a VLJ. Acting FAA Administrator Robert A. Sturgell said in an FAA press release dated September 12, 2008, that the FAA "made the right call in certifying this aircraft (however) the process we used could and should have been better coordinated."

The FAA type certification process for a new aircraft is the culmination of years of hard work from hundreds of people from many companies and government agencies. Gaining certification requires hundreds of certification tests and substantiation reports and thousands of testing hours conducted under the scrutiny of the FAA. There are no shortcuts, or ways to circumvent the robust processes and requirements. The rigorous process is how the FAA ensures the safety of our country's airspace and air travelers.

The Situation

• The Eclipse 500 received FAA certification on September 30, 2006. All new aircraft must receive certification from the FAA to be sold and operated in the United States.
• Historically, the FAA has conducted SCRs when an aircraft's safety is brought into question, e.g., injuries or fatalities have occurred.
• The Eclipse 500 is the most tested Part 23 (General Aviation) aircraft to be introduced in two decades. On average, the number of hours accumulated by a test fleet during FAA Certification is 1,100 hours. The Eclipse 500 test fleet accumulated more than 5,000 hours.
• In more than 32,000 total fleet hours - including more than 5,000 flight test hours - 21 months of customer deliveries and with more than 250 aircraft delivered, no injury or fatality to any Eclipse 500 pilot or passenger has ever occurred.
• No other aircraft in two decades has entered service with a better safety record.

Designed and Tested with Safety as Top Priority

• The Eclipse 500 was designed to deliver exceptional safety and reliable performance. From its suite of avionics, to the structural makeup of the airframe, safety was the overriding tenet of Eclipse's design philosophy.
• The Eclipse 500 includes standard safety features that historically were available only on aircraft costing millions more, including: autothrottle; color weather radar; a dual-redundant flight management system with sophisticated aircraft performance computer; and "smart" electronic checklists and an intelligent crew alert system.
• The Eclipse 500 exceeded FAA requirements during FAA Static Testing in 2005. A distributed load was applied to the airframe to validate that the aircraft meets the FAA requirements for structural integrity. Eclipse 500 static tests included limit loads, which are the highest loads the aircraft would ever expect to experience, as well as ultimate loads, which represent 1.5 times the limit loads. The airframe accomplished all test points on the first pass, testament to the structural integrity of the airframe.
• As a result of all the above, the Eclipse 500 marks the safest introduction into service of any new airplane in 20 years. The Eclipse 500 fleet has accumulated more than 32,000 total fleet hours of operation, all with no injuries or fatalities. Eclipse believes this performance is unprecedented in general aviation.

Our Cooperation with the FAA

• Eclipse and the FAA were partners in the certification process for the Eclipse 500 to ensure all requirements were met, and the Eclipse 500 entered service meeting or exceeding FAA safety requirements.
• Eclipse was among the first aircraft manufacturers to follow the FAA Certification Process Improvement (CPI) program. Detailed FAA involvement in a certification process is a hallmark of the CPI program.
• The CPI program also allows the FAA to focus on safety-critical or unique design features as they are being created. Eclipse shared these and the preliminary design concepts of the Eclipse 500 with the FAA.
• The FAA sends an engineering team of 10 to 15 people to oversee the certification of a VLJ type of aircraft. In addition to this assigned review team, Eclipse also utilized FAA technical resources at initial design of the aircraft through to certification and to successful fielding of the Eclipse 500. Proactively using these resources helped influence the initial and final design of the aircraft.
• Eclipse also worked with personnel from the Technical Standards Staff of the FAA Small Airplane, Engine & Propeller, and Rotorcraft Directorates. These experts assisted in many technical, regulation, and policy discussions. Eclipse worked with the FAA Chief Scientific & Technical Advisors (formerly known as National Resource Specialists) at different phases of the certification program in the areas of Human Factors, Nondestructive Evaluation, Fracture Mechanics, Icing, Advanced Avionics/Electrical, Propulsion Control Systems, EMI & Lightning, and Fuel Systems.