true true 1 <img src="http://realestate.halogenguides.com/image/show/eclipse-500-exterior-3.jpg" title="Eclipse 500 exterior 3" alt="Eclipse 500 exterior 3"class="floatright"/> The hits just keep on coming for Eclipse Aviation. Less than a week after the Very Light Jet (VLJ) manufacturer said they had [resolved a throttle issue](http://realestate.halogenguides.com/archives/1288-eclipse-says-throttle-problem-is-fixed), that had forced one its [Eclipse 500s](http://jets.halogenguides.com/planes/eclipse-500-vlj) into a hard landing, come new reports that federal officials are taking a look at irregularities in its Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification process. Congressional officials say that regulators may have overlooked known safety concerns when they granted the Eclipse 500 approval, back in 2006. Congress has asked the Department of Transportation&#8217;s Inspector General to investigate claims made by FAA employees that the jet was not properly vetted. The employees, National Air Traffic Controllers Association submitted the concerns through their union, the National Air Traffic Controllers, in a grievance filed in October of 2006. The grievance cites &#8220;several outstanding safety/regulatory issues,&#8221; but does not identify them. The FAA, for its part, is standing behind its approval of the Eclipse 500. Eclipse CEO Vern Raburn denies any wrongdoing by his company, telling USA Today that Eclipse is in &#8220;complete and total conformity&#8221; with federal regulations. Raburn feels that the complaint is an internal FAA matter between workers and administrators. Eclipse has been the target of some criticism as the promise and excitement over VLJs has been forced to meet with the realities of production delays, price increases, and a diminished economic outlook. Earlier this year, Eclipse took [legal action](http://realestate.halogenguides.com/archives/1160-eclipse-sues-to-reveal-anonymous-critics) against a website of particularly vocal Eclipse detractors. These new allegations of certification irregularities are likely to add more fuel for those critics. 2008-07-01T12:14:04Z 3 true 1307 true false 2008-07-01T12:00:00Z true false congress-launches-probe-into-alleged-eclipse-certification-irregularities false 0

Congress is looking into claims by FAA workers that regulators overlooked safety concerns during the certification of the Eclipse 500.

Article 2009-03-25T22:25:29Z 385 15