Sukhoi Civil Aircraft repairing grounded Interjet SSJ100s

Sukhoi Civil Aircraft technical teams have been in Mexico since late December conducting repair work on 11 Superjet 100 (SSJ100) aircraft grounded by Mexican airline Interjet, the only SSJ100 operator in the Americas.

A Sukhoi Civil Aircraft spokesperson told ATW the aircraft were grounded because of “technical problems with a stabilizer node.” The grounding affected half of Interjet’s fleet of 22 SSJ100s; the airline has eight more SSJ100s on order.

The repair work is covered under warranty, according to Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, which expects all 11 SSJ100s to be back in service “by the middle of January.”

Interjet grounded the 11 aircraft following inspections on its SSJ100 fleet prompted by Russian aviation authorities. Sukhoi Civil Aircraft said in December it had identified a minor fault in the tail stabilizer of an SSJ100.

According to Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, all SSJ100s in operation worldwide have been inspected and were either cleared to continue service or temporarily taken out of service for the necessary repairs.

The Sukhoi Civil Aircraft spokesperson said Interjet’s SSJ100 stabilizer nodes will be inspected weekly going forward.

(Aaron Karp - ATWonline News)