Dassault Falcon 7X

Le Falcon 7X passe l’une des premières étapes de sa vie opérationnelle. Dassault a livré le centième exemplaire de son jet d’affaires le 23 novembre, au cours d’une cérémonie qui s’est déroulée à Little Rock (Arkansas).

L’appareil a été remis à une société brésilienne de services financiers.

Le premier Falcon 7X a été livré au mois de juin 2007. Depuis, il a effectué plus de 3 000 heures de vol.

La flotte totale a quant à elle cumulé plus de 57 000 heures de vol et est opérée dans vingt-cinq pays. Le triréacteur a enregistré des commandes pour plus de deux cents appareils.

Seul jet d’affaires long-courrier certifié par l’AESA et la FAA pour décoller de l’aéroport de London City, le Falcon 7X possède un rayon d’action de 5 950nm (11 000km) lorsqu’il transporte huit passagers à Mach 0.80.

EASA grounds Dassault Falcon 7X after pitch trim incident

The European Aviation Safety Agency and Dassault have jointly recommended grounding all Falcon 7X business jets after one of the long-range aircraft experienced an uncontrolled pitch trim runaway during descent.
"The crew succeeded in recovering a stable situation and performed an uneventful landing," said EASA in its airworthiness directive issued this afternoon.
The agency said that while "analysis of the digital flight data recorder and the fault history database confirmed the event, it did not explain the origin of the pitch trim runaway. If this situation occurs again it could lead to loss of control of the aeroplane."
Dassault is investigating the cause of the incident.

Dassault finds fix for grounded 7X

Dassault's Falcon 7X business jets, currently grounded because of a stabiliser trim fault, are expected to be airborne again shortly.
Dassault said on 9 June that it had developed and validated a modification, and depending on approvals from the European Aviation Safety Agency and "modification kit logistics", it expects the first aircraft to have the changes completed "within about 10 days".
This modification will feature additional automated protection beyond that already designed into the horizontal stabiliser trim circuitry, the airframer said. Dassault said it involves both software and hardware alterations, which have already been tested and validated on a test bench.
Dassault said it is "co-ordinating an unprecedented logistic effort" to manage the modifications within its own service centres and its Falcon authorised service network, adding that "additional dedicated retrofit lines have been set up in France, at Bordeaux-Mérignac and Istres, and also in Little Rock, Arkansas".
The aircraft have been grounded since an EASA emergency airworthiness directive, issued at Dassault's request, came into effect on 26 May. This followed the 25 May incident when a Falcon 7X experienced a pitch trim event during descent. The crew successfully recovered the aircraft to a stable flight profile and performed an uneventful landing.
The manufacturer says its investigation "has confirmed that the Falcon 7X control laws operated normally, which allowed development of a safe ferry procedure using the digital flight control system in normal mode".
The 7X entered service in 2007, 112 aircraft have been delivered, and until this event they had accumulated over 75,000 fault-free flight hours, said the company.

EASA clears modified Dassault 7X for passenger operations

The Dassault Falcon 7X fleet, grounded since 26 May awaiting rectification of a technical fault, has been cleared to resume passenger operations by the European Aviation Safety Agency.
The manufacturer said it expects the entire 112-strong fleet to be modified and airborne again by "early July".
[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] said that the first 7X with an EASA-approved modification to its pitch trim system has "returned to operational status". The manufacturer added: "This follows an intensive effort by Dassault to create a solution that addresses a pitch trim incident experienced by a Falcon 7X on 25 May."
The airframer explained that the modification kit adds additional layers of protection to the Falcon 7X horizontal stabiliser pitch trim control system. After a series of tests had satisfied Dassault that it met requirements, the equipment went into production and was shipped to approved service facilities. The brief delay since then was because, in parallel, the modification had to be reviewed by EASA and the US Federal Aviation Administration.
On 15 June EASA approved the modification. Yesterday it released a new airworthiness directive that allows the aircraft to resume flights with passengers. Dassault said the FAA is expected to issue a similar decision shortly.
The manufacturer has been "in almost daily contact" with Falcon 7X operators, providing step-by-step progress reports on the situation since the company's advice to EASA and the FAA led to the emergency airworthiness directive on 26 May suspending passenger operations.
This followed a 25 May incident where a Falcon 7X experienced a pitch trim malfunction during descent. The crew successfully recovered the aircraft to a stable flight profile and landed safely

Dassault clinches Falcon MOU from Minsheng

Dassault has received a memorandum of understanding (MoU) from China's Minsheng Financial Leasing for ten Falcon 7X and ten Falcon 2000S business jets which it hopes will be converted into a firm order "soon." The deal follows an order from Minsheng earlier this year for five Falcon 7Xs - some of which have been delivered.

Dassault Falcon president John Rosanvallon said this morning: "Our Chinese story began two years ago and the success we have had in the region has really taken us by surprise. In 2011, China looks set to be our largest market, primarily driven by the country's entrepreneurs who have discovered the value of business aviation."