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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

For Want of a Battery,|Plane Engines Failed

WASHINGTON (CN) - Certain Cessna 172 airplane engines could fail in-flight due to the lack of a backup battery, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The agency has issued an airworthiness directive for the small plane, requiring a backup battery and its replacement once a year.

The directive applies to Cessna 172 airplanes modified by Supplemental Type Certificate SA01303WI.

Both engines of a Diamond DA42 airplane shut down in-flight in 2007, and the FAA determined that the problem was the "momentary loss of electrical power to the full authority digital engine control" for each engine. The modified Cessna 172 has a similar functionality, which could fail in the same way, according to the FAA.

The lack of power causing the 2007 incident made the digital engine control reset, shutting down the engines. The extra battery is for this control.

Click the document icon for this regulation and others.

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