The Citation aircraft did not have an annunciator light to show that the parking brake is engaged, and the manufacturer’s before take-off checklist did not include a check to ensure the parking brake is disengaged.
Textron Aviation now has a formal team to address Continual Operational Safety (COS) issue with our fleet of aircraft. They will address any COS issues that comes in through the FAA safety recommendation system
The ATSB notes that Textron Aviation (Cessna) is willing to look at addressing safety recommendations so the ATSB is issuing the following safety recommendation.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau recommends that Textron Aviation (Cessna) take safety action to address the fact that Citation aircraft do not have an annunciator light to show that the parking brake is engaged and the Cessna 'before take-off' checklist does not include a check to ensure the parking brake is disengaged.
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has investigated two similar accidents involving Cessna 560XL aircraft. The NTSB found that the parking brake pressure was not fully released before attempted take-offs, which prevented the aircraft rotating for take-off. This occurred beyond the point at which the aircraft could stop safely and in one of the accidents, this resulted in fatal injuries to all on board.
As a result, on 19 May 2022, the NTSB issued three Safety Recommendations to the US Federal Aviation Administration:
Issue an airworthiness directive for in-service Cessna 560XL airplanes to require that they meet the parking brake indication requirements of Amendment 25-107 of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 25 section 735.
Revise the type certification basis for Cessna 560XL airplanes and future derivative models to require that newly manufactured airplanes meet the parking brake indication requirements of Amendment 25-107 of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 25 section 735.
Require Textron Aviation to include a checklist item on the Cessna 560XL pretakeoff checklist for pilots to verify that the airplane’s parking brake is fully released before takeoff is initiated.
For further background information to the NTSB recommendations, please refer to the NTSB website (A-22-008 through -010 (ntsb.gov)).
The ATSB will monitor these recommendations and advise of any response by the FAA and/or action by Textron Aviation.
