FAA Urges Best Practices For Turbocharger Exhaust

As part of its charter to help minimize GA accidents, the General Aviation Joint Steering Committee (GAJSC; see the article beginning on page 4 for background) earlier this year published a Best Practices Guide designed to ensure airplanes equipped with turbocharged reciprocating engines fitted with turbocharger to tailpipe V-band coupling/clamps, remain in their original type design configuration. It will also help to effectively manage the risk associated with the use of V-band coupling/clamps in this application.

Editorial Staff

Monday, August 20, 2018 at 12:00 AM ET

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Key Takeaways:

V-band clamps on turbocharged aircraft exhaust systems are a significant safety concern, implicated in numerous accidents due to failures, improper installation, and corrosion, which can lead to in-flight fires.
The General Aviation Joint Steering Committee (GAJSC) published a "Best Practices Guide" for these clamps, detailing inspection and installation advisories, and establishing strict life limits (e.g., 500 hours for spot-welded, 2000 hours for riveted or single-piece types).
The FAA issued a Special Airworthiness Bulletin (SAIB) warning pilots of potential electromagnetic interference from high-current electrical equipment causing misleading heading and attitude displays on Electronic Flight Displays (EFDs).
San Francisco's Class B airspace configuration was redesigned from an "inverted wedding cake" to polygons with expanded VFR waypoints to improve navigation for aircraft operating underneath.

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The V-band clamps used to assemble exhaust systems on turbocharged piston-powered airplanes have long been a source of concern to operators, maintainers and regulators alike. Clamp failures resulting from lengthy service and improper installation can allow extremely hot and high-pressure exhaust gases to be directed onto other engine-compartment components and risk an in-flight fire.

The clamps have been implicated in numerous accidents dating from the 1970s, many of which involved fatalities. The problem potentially affects some 18,000 turbocharged aircraft in the U.S. fleet from various manufacturers, including some still in production, as well as normally aspirated aircraft modified with a turbocharger installation under a supplemental type certificate (STC).