SJ30-2 flight testing to resume this month

Sino Swearingen plans to resume flight testing the SJ30-2 early this month with the second conforming prototype (S/N 3), followed within the next 90 days by S/N 4. Flight testing came to an abrupt and tragic halt on April 26 when the only conforming prototype (S/N 2) crashed during flutter tests, killing pilot Carroll Beeler. The company has hired former Jetcruzer 450 test pilot Mark Elwess, who will join principal test pilot Chuck Walls to “intensify the flight-test program,” said a spokesman. “We intend to fly seven days a week, IFR and at night. But we won’t be doing any more flutter tests until we are absolutely certain about what went wrong and we have fixed it.” That may have to wait until the NTSB completes its investigation, still several months away.