FAA grounds certain Cessnas in wake of plane crash that killed LouCity co-founder

Nearly six months after a Cessna Citation jet crashed in Southern Indiana, killing Louisville City FC co-founder Wayne Estopinal and two others, the Federal Aviation Administration says it will ground Cessna planes equipped with a part that may have caused the November tragedy.

The FAA is forbidding flights by the planes — also called Textron Aviation Inc. Models 525, 525A and 525B — if they have Tamarack active load alleviation system (ATLAS) winglets installed, according to a directive issued Friday. Winglets are the raised pieces at the edge of wings that are meant to reduce drag and help the pilot better control the plane.

Estopinal, 63, was flying in a Cessna 525A along with Sandra Holland Johnson, 54, and pilot Andrew Davis, 32, last year when it went down in a wooded area of rural Clark County, Indiana, less than 20 miles north of Lousville. 

Deadly Indiana plane crash:Investigators 'had people here all night'

In memorial:Friends remember Estopinal as an intense, motivated, engaged guy

According to the new federal rule, there have been reports of incidents where the ATLAS appears to have malfunctioned. The FAA is prohibiting the use of these planes, until a modification acceptable to the agency is developed, approved and incorporated.

"The malfunction of the ATLAS may reduce the pilot's ability to control the airplane," the rule said. "This unsafe condition could lead to loss of control of the airplane with consequent loss of life."

In calling for the grounding of the Cessna planes, the FAA also cited an ongoing National Transportation Safety Board investigation into a deadly accident involving a Model 525 plane that was equipped with the ATLAS winglet system.  

The rule says the NTSB is looking at the role the winglets may have played in the accident. 

Although the FAA directive does not provide more specifics on the NTSB investigation, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association said it is the Nov. 30 crash that killed Estopinal, Johnson and Davis.

Davis was a pilot for Estopinal's firm, TEG Architects, and Johnson was a vice president. They had just taken off from Clark Regional Airport en route to Chicago when the Cessna crashed near Memphis, Indiana. 

In its new rule, the FAA cited a similar emergency directive issued last month by the European Aviation Safety Agency that said the winglet system “appears to have malfunctioned” in recent incidents, causing pilots to struggle to “recover (planes) to safe flight.” 

Check out:A closer look at the type of jet involved in Clark County plane crash

The accident:Indiana plane crash kills 3, including LouCity founder Wayne Estopinal

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, a Maryland-based political group that advocates for general aviation, said Thursday it is examining “why it took the FAA five weeks to follow” its European counterpart in grounding Cessnas equipped with the active winglet system. 

The new federal rule barring certain Cessnas from flying is expected to affect fewer than 100 airplanes, according to the directive.

Representatives for Tamarack Aerospace Group, the Idaho-based firm that makes the active winglet system, did not immediately return a Courier Journal request for comment.