Jammed rudder: DGCA issues safety guidance for Boeing 737s & stops CAT 3B landings on some of them – Times of India

NEW DELHI: In the latest scare for Boeing 737s, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Monday sounded an alert for Collins Aerospace rudders jamming on these planes. The regulator has also asked operators using B737s with affected Collins rudders to stop low visibility CAT 3B landings on these planes apart from conducting risk assessment and special rudder control training for pilots.Air India Express, Akasa and SpiceJet use B737s apart from some private operators in India. The exact number of aircraft affected by this is being ascertained along with Boeing.
The US had first issued this advisory based on which India Monday issued recommendations for B737s equipped with Collins Aerospace SVO-730 rudder rollout guidance actuators. “DGCA has taken cognisance of the recent US NTSB aviation investigation report, which highlights safety concerns involving Boeing 737 airplanes equipped with Collins Aerospace SVO-730 rudder rollout guidance actuators. Considering the potential risk of a jammed or restricted rudder control system, the DGCA has issued interim safety recommendations to all Indian operators of Boeing 737 aircraft, effective immediately.”
The recommendations include informing flight crew “through a circular/advisory regarding the possibility of a jammed or restricted rudder control system. Appropriate mitigations must be communicated to help crews identify and handle such a situation.” All operators will need to conduct a safety risk assessment for aircraft to evaluate and mitigate the risk associated with the rudder control system.
“All Category III B approach, landing, and rollout operations (including practice or actual autoland) must be discontinued for airplanes until further notice. Discussion about potential rudder control system issues must be included as a mandatory topic in recurrent training sessions and instrument rating/proficiency checks (IR/PPC) during pre-simulator briefings. Operators have been instructed to include specific exercises that simulate scenarios involving a jammed or restricted rudder control system. Appropriate flight crew responses and mitigations should be practiced during these exercises,” DGCA said in a statement, adding, “These interim measures aim to enhance safety and ensure that flight crews are well-prepared to handle potential Rudder control issues effectively, pending further detailed operational guidance to be issued by Boeing/Federal Aviation Administration.”
In a statement, Boeing said: “…In Aug, we informed affected 737 operators of a potential condition with the rudder rollout guidance actuator, which is part of an optional autoland system. The autoland system includes layers of redundancy and we are working with our supplier to develop additional guidance to address the potential condition. We will keep our regulator informed of our progress. We will also ensure flight crews have the appropriate operating procedures.”
The advisory is for both B737 NG and MAX. SpiceJet said “none of its B737 NG aircraft are impacted.”