Good things are happening this week for Baltia.
Post# of 41413
Here's what we know:
July 28th, a 7th Mini-Test was performed, and according to sources, the crew performed above expectations and broke their previous records. No errors were caused with the exception of the deployment of the R1 Door slide. At the latter stage of the deployment, the internal geometric guide strap caused the slide to entangle. I've seen this before, and if I compare my experience to their experience, I can see it being usable in case of emergency.
We know that the emergency evacuation slides has been a problem for the aviation industry and the problem may exist on aircraft flying today around the world. Goodrich stood by their quality product prior to the #7 mini test by providing a letter of certification, and failed to uphold their word.
After the initial test, Baltia and the FAA inspectors got together and Baltia requested a special consideration of the fact and the Local FAA agreed to it's assessment.
I am very aware of the guidelines provided in the Part 121 certification. The wording could disqualified Baltia and fail them, but FAA has not done that. That speaks volume. The FAA is aware of the Emergency Slide Issue when there is a 37% failure rate issued by the already certified airlines.
The local FAA has created a report by combing 7 mini-evacuation demonstration test and submitted the recommendation for Baltia to pass with special consideration. The report was send to FAA HQ in Washington DC 2 weeks after July 28th.
The report sat in their hands for weeks, and my experiences tells me that FAA requested an investigation into Goodrich/UTC Aerospace to determine what is causing the 37% failure rate. Goodrich/UTC Aerospace may have done some internal testing on their product to determine fault. The findings may have discovered that the manufacturing process is not meeting to the standards they promised the world that they would uphold.
On October 8th, 2015, an advisory circular 43-208 was issued with a revised change eliminating the words, "Approval," and "FAA-Approved" which clearly indicates that FAA's investigation has discovered that Goodrich/UTC Aerospace failed to deliver their promise to the aviation industry.
This action gives Balita a greater advantage, and a higher possibility that a Pass will be issued for the Mini-Evacuation Demonstration test. The consideration that Baltia requested was seriously taken by FAA, and FAA has challenged that consideration. It was found that Baltia was in the right, and may have been in the right since Mini Test #3.
As of now, no one knows the determination of Mini #7. No one has all of the data except FAA.
Rules are meant to be broken, and in this case, the justification is there.
With the understanding of the situation to the best of my ability to collect the information, and the 20 years of my experience in the aviation industry, I strongly believe that Balita will get the pass, and we will be moving forward with Proving Flights before the end of the year.