On Monday, aviation regulator DGCA issued an advisory to Indian airlines operating Boeing 737 aircraft, warning of potential risks related to a jammed rudder control system. This advisory comes in response to a recent investigation report by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which raised safety concerns regarding Boeing 737 planes equipped with Collins Aerospace SVO-730 Rudder Rollout Guidance Actuators.
In light of the potential risk of a jammed or restricted rudder control system, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued safety recommendations to Indian airlines operating affected aircraft. According to a report of PTI, Currently, Air India Express, Akasa Air and SpiceJet operate Boeing 737 planes. DGCA said all flight crews are to be informed through a circular/advisory regarding the possibility of a jammed or restricted rudder control system.
The DGCA said that "appropriate mitigations must be communicated to help crews identify and handle such a situation." Additionally, all operators have been instructed to conduct a safety risk assessment for their aircraft to evaluate and mitigate risks related to the rudder control system. The regulator also mandated the discontinuation of all Category III B approach, landing, and rollout operations, including practice or actual autoland, for these planes until further notice. Category III B refers to operations in low visibility conditions.
Among other measures, airlines have been asked to mandatorily include discussion about potential rudder control system issues as a mandatory topic in recurrent training sessions. It will also be included in the Instrument Rating/Proficiency Checks (IR/PPC) during pre-simulator briefings. "Operators have been instructed to include specific exercises in Recurrent Training and IR/PPC that simulate scenarios involving a jammed or restricted rudder control system, including rollout procedures.