FAA Hits Cessna with $2.5 Million Fine

Bethany Whitfield

Friday, September 23, 2011 at 07:18 PM ET

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Key Takeaways:

The FAA levied a nearly $2.5 million civil penalty against Cessna Aircraft following a 2010 incident where a Cessna Corvalis wing component debonded during an audit test flight.
The incident, which saw approximately seven feet of left wing skin separate, was caused by excessive humidity exposure during production that prevented proper curing of bonded parts.
The FAA alleges Cessna failed to implement adequate quality control measures during the production of the defective wings and 82 other aircraft parts at its Chihuahua, Mexico plant, leading to the grounding of 13 Corvalis airplanes.

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The FAA is levying a nearly $2.5 million civil penalty against Cessna Aircraft after an incident in which carbon composite components of a Cessna Corvalis wing debonded during an audit test flight last year.

The incident occurred in December 2010, when an FAA test pilot flying a Cessna Corvalis experienced the separation of approximately seven feet of left wing skin from the forward spar. The separation caused damage to one of the aircraft’s fuel tanks, but the pilot was able to make a safe emergency landing.