ABOVE: The grounding affected part of the fleet of SR22 and SR22T aircraft operated by Cirrus

[UPDATE 1] The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued an Airworthiness Directive (AD) to deal with incorrectly installed components of some Continental engines manufactured between 2021 and 2023. The move follows a mandatory Service Bulletin published previously by Continental to deal with the same issue.

In early February Cirrus had grounded part of its SR22 and SR22T fleet used in company operations because of potential defects in the aircraft’s Continental engines.

In a statement, Cirrus had said: ‘We are proactively making the decision – out of an abundance of caution – to pause all internal Cirrus Aircraft company flight operations onSR22s and SR22Ts manufactured from June 1, 2021, through February 7, 2023’. Shortly after, Continental issued a mandatory Service Bulletin concerning incorrectly installed snap rings on engines manufactured in the same timeframe.

The grounding affected only aircraft operated by Cirrus itself (for instance, for company transportation, deliveries and ferry flights).

PHOTO: CIRRUS