206 DOOR AD MAY BE COMING
A longstanding design issue with the Cessna 206 might end up resulting in an AD after it was implicated in the death of three passengers in a crash in Canada in 2019. The forward of two rear cargo doors, which also serve as the emergency exit for rear seat passengers, won’t open fully if the flaps are deployed 20 degrees or more. This interferes with opening the rearmost door. In the Canadian accident, the passengers were trapped in a submerged 206 on floats after a survivable landing accident. A modified door handle, installed in all 206s built in 1998 and later, allows the rear door to be forced open independently but most of the 7000 in-service aircraft were built before then. Canada is considering making the retrofit of the older aircraft mandatory along with removing a center row seat to allow easier egress from the back if the rear doors are damaged in a crash.
EXPENSE SHARING UPDATED
The FAA has updated guidance on passengers chipping in for flight expenses with an Advisory Circular that covers offering flights over the Internet. The agency was ordered by Congress to clarify the restrictions on pilots receiving money for noncommercial flights after online flight sharing service Flytenow was shut down and then took the FAA to court. The agency concluded that posting available seats in private aircraft on universally accessible and widely distributed Web sites amounted to “holding out” the flights and therefore made those operations “common carriage.” The courts agreed. Only flights where the pilot has a legitimate reason for going (building time isn’t enough) and the passengers are part of their immediate family or social circles are eligible for direct flight expense sharing. The pilot also has to kick in his or her share for gas, airport fees and plane rental.
