Mitsubishi Aircraft will yet again push back the much-anticipated first flight of its new passenger jet, this time from next week to the week of Nov. 9, citing upgrades to a cockpit part.
The change marks the fifth postponement for the Mitsubishi Regional Jet, the first commercial jet airliner developed in Japan. It also goes to show that engineers and senior officials were not keeping in step with one another at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries subsidiary.
The company will modify parts of the rudder pedals in the cockpit. The pedals move the rudder for yaw control, and improvement is intended to broaden the scope of the rudder's side-to-side movement. A wider movement makes it easier to stabilize an aircraft in bad weather should one of the two engines fail.
Still, the upgrade is not absolutely necessary for the first flight, according to Mitsubishi Aircraft. This is because the maiden flight will not take place in rain or other inclement weather as it is designed to check basic performance, such as taking off, flying and landing.
For this reason, the improvement was originally scheduled for after the first flight. Yet a call came at the last minute to make the change out of a concern for safety, indicating a lack of communication among those involved in development.
When it announced its fourth postponement in April, Mitsubishi Aircraft said it was giving priority to making a near-perfect jet that would require few improvements after the first flight. What's more, President Hiromichi Morimoto, who was sent to the company in April to oversee the development team, had pledged to make the maiden flight happen in October.
Friday's announcement of the delay disappointed many aviation aficionados. Anticipating large crowds for the MRJ debut, a regional airport in Nagoya selected for the flight test had even decided to close the observation deck from Sunday to Nov. 1.
The jet was initially scheduled for its first takeoff back in 2011. The flight has been postponed several times since for design and manufacturing reviews. This time around, the improvement will not involve any defects in equipment or systems, and the company still plans to stay on schedule with regard to obtaining government certification in spring 2017 and delivering the aircraft to ANA Holdings' All Nippon Airways sometime between April and June of that year.
The jet is set to be screened by the transport ministry next week for a flight permit, to be followed by a high-speed runway test. "We will make the jet ready for flight anytime," said a Mitsubishi Aircraft official.
However, Senior Executive Vice President Nobuo Kishi, who oversees engineering, warned, "you never know what could happen." Aircraft development is full of pitfalls, something newcomer Mitsubishi Aircraft is learning the hard way.
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