SUBJ: Wing Spar
SAIB: 2022-20
Date: October 19, 2022
This is information only. Recommendations aren’t mandatory.
Introduction
This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) alerts all owners, operators, maintenance technicians, and inspectors of Piper Aircraft, Inc. (Piper) PA-28 and PA-32 airplanes of information gathered as a result of a fatal accident of a Piper Model PA-28R-201 airplane in 2018 and the inspection findings that followed. The accident, determined to be caused by fatigue cracks in the lower spar cap, resulted in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issuing Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2020-26-16, which requires several actions including a one-time inspection of certain lower spar cap bolt holes. AD 2020-26-16 was issued as an interim action and requires reporting certain inspection information to the FAA to help determine the number of cracks present in the fleet. The inspection reports received by the FAA thus far indicate the presence of numerous cracks and hole-quality issues in a significant number of airplanes.
