27 February 2023
Robin Aircraft has gone into a ‘protected’ regime while the French manufacturer and EASA work through an Emergency Airworthiness Directive affecting the wing spar of certain models.
A statement from Casimir Pellisier, CEO of Robin Aircraft, issued last week said:
“Our company, manufacturer of Robin and CAP aircraft, is currently facing customers-delivery delays due to temporary administrative hazards which could threaten its balance in the short term, even though its development projects have recently received support from the State and the Region as part of the French Recovery Plan (Plan de Relance).
“To protect our customers, our suppliers and our staff, the company placed itself under the protection of the Law and has filed a request for the “regime de sauvegarde” (equivalent to U.S. Chapter 11).
“The purpose of this prevention pattern is to give time to healthy companies facing temporary difficulties and, in most cases, allows a rapid recovery in compliance with the given commitments.
“The entire Robin Aircraft team would like to thank all those who express their support day after day.”
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FLYER understands that the original problem was defective bonding of glue to wood. The spars are built in batches of four, all cured under the same conditions of temperature and humidity. One spar is then opened and inspected. If that spar is good then it is closed and all four are sent through to wing production. If a bonding defect is detected then the other three spars in the batch are opened.
In the case of seven batches of spars (28 spars in total), defective bonding of glue to wood was detected and properly recorded but, for some reason, the person performing the inspection sent the spars through to production anyway. The error was discovered at a routine quality control review by Robin/CEAPR, whereupon they issued an SB.
