SEATTLE — Federal regulators on Wednesday purchased seaplanes like one that went down in Washington’s Puget Sound in September be checked for a defect that mostlikely triggered the fatal crash.
The Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness instruction needs that operators of all the DHC-3 Otter seaplanes in the United States — 63 of about 160 operating aroundtheworld — takealookat the stabilizer to verify the condition of an actuator piece, The Seattle Times reported. That piece was missingouton from the Friday Harbor Seaplanes airplane that crashed Sept. 4 into the waters near Whidbey Island, killing 10 individuals, paper reported.
Operators needto validate that the stabilizer actuator lock ring is properly setup and report back to the FAA by Dec. 19, according to the instruction. The order does not ground the airplane.
Kenmore Air, the biggest Otter operator on Puget Sound, has stated its airplane haveactually passed examination.
On Oct. 24, the National Transportation Safety Board, which is examining the crash, advised operators