FAA Airworthiness Concern Sheet: AirKit LLC Tail Skid Bracket/Cessna 172

The FAA has published an airworthiness concern sheet (ACS) requesting additional information on J-shaped, hook-designed tail skids manufactured by AirKit LLC and installed on Cessna 172 aircraft under Part Number 16316. The ACS results from an AirKit-installed tail skid deforming after a tail strike during an instructional flight, bending upward and backward, then penetrating and subsequently jamming the rudder.  

Through the ACS, the FAA is requesting information about any known installations of the AirKit tail skid, including the make, model, and registration of any aircraft on which they are installed, any circumstances and procedures used to install the part, and any additional information that may be pertinent. Additionally, the FAA is requesting that any service difficulties or similar incidents involving deformed tail skids be reported.

The FAA uses the airworthiness concern sheet to communicate and coordinate potential airworthiness concerns to the industry and to gather information about specific issues before they reach the level of required airworthiness actions. EAA, along with other associations and type clubs, disseminates the voluntary ACS as a means to help the FAA gather information and to better understand any mitigating circumstances surrounding each particular issue.