EASA Suspends Eclipse 500 Type Certificate

The European Aviation Safety Agency earlier this month suspended the European type certificate (TC) held by bankrupt Eclipse Aviation. The company was granted the EASA type certificate on Nov. 21, 2008, and
four days later it filed for bankruptcy. Attempts are currently under way by interested parties to purchase what remains of Eclipse’s assets, but the bankruptcy court has thus far accepted none of the bids. The suspension of the EASA TC “is an issue,” one of the bidders told AIN, “and would reduce the value of the assets [and] intellectual property.” According to an EASA spokeswoman, “The suspension of the Eclipse EA500 type certificate is the result of the TC holder’s failure to fully comply with its administrative obligations towards EASA.” EASA is listed as a creditor in the Eclipse Chapter 7 (liquidation) bankruptcy filing, and although the spokeswoman could not confirm that EASA is owed money by Eclipse, she said that “administrative obligations” could include failure to pay certification fees. Once the failure is remedied, the TC can be reinstated. The TC suspension has no effect on European Eclipse operators because, as she added, “currently, there are no Eclipse EA500 aircraft on EASA member state registers and none that conform to the EASA type certificated standard.”