B.C. company Coast Dog Aviation has teamed up with Airworthiness Resources to neatly solve a design issue with Cessna 206 aircraft that has vexed engineers and regulators for 40 years. The mod will allow owners to safely and legally make full use of the capacious workhorse. When the flaps are deployed the forward rear cargo door won’t open and there have been several crashes in which passengers were unable to get out of submerged or burning aircraft. An accident in Manitoba last year prompted Transport Canada to issue an AD that barrred passengers from using the rear seats. Coast Dog’s solution makes the door useable regardless of flight configuration.
Transport Canada finally issued an AD to restrict the seating and we decided it was really time to do something about it. Coast Dog, which is based at Pitt Meadows Airport in suburban Vancouver, designed a spring-loaded break in the door frame and window that folds out of the way if it’s opened into the flap. The modification doesn’t interfere with the normal operation of the door, regardless of flap position. It has been approved as an alternative means of compliance for the AD by Transport Canada and STC’d by the European Aviation Safety Agency and the FAA. “We were motivated after several accidents that cost lives,” said Coast Dog spokesman Dale Floyd. “Transport Canada finally issued an AD to restrict the seating and we decided it was really time to do something about it.”