Adam at High Aerosports <<hanglide>>
writes:

Aeros has released a safety directive grounding all Combats
produced between 2011 and 2013 (see below). Detailed instructions for the
crossbar check are being created and will be published at Aeros website and
e-mailed to dealers within the next few days.

Grounding Aeros Combat Hang Gliders Produced in 2011, 2012 and 2013

Safety Directive-016 August 12, 2013

Status: Mandatory

Background

During the last week we had information of two in-flight crossbeam accidents on
our latest Combat gliders. Fortunately, both pilots were unharmed.

The first accident happened on August 2nd, and while the investigation was still
on the way, we received news about the similar accident that happened on August
8th. Both accidents happened during level flight at moderate speed and the
weather more or less calm (normal flight load). Both crossbeams broke in the
same place and in a very similar pattern. Both gliders were not new and had
between 40 and 60 flights, some of the flights in far worse conditions. Both
crossbeams that failed had passed the factory load test.

After a thorough investigation made by the representatives of Aeros together
with the representatives of the crossbeam manufacturer, based on both accident
reports and a personal check of one of the gliders, the reason of this
structural failure has been discovered. In both cases it was caused by an
infrequent manufacturing defect that went undetected by our quality control
system.

Scope

This Safety Directive covers all Combat hang gliders with a carbon crossbeam
manufactured in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Compliance:

To avoid any further incidents, we strongly recommend to STOP FLYING all Aeros
Combat hang gliders manufactured between 2011 and 2013 until their crossbeams
are inspected by our authorized dealers. Please, contact an Aeros dealer nearest
to you for the carbon crossbeam inspection on your Combat hang glider.

All Aeros hang glider dealers will receive detailed instructions for the
crossbeam inspection and testing. These procedures will allow us to find any
further similar defects in the crossbeams and fully exclude similar failures on
the re-tested pieces.

The same additional test procedures will immediately be implemented in our
production process as well.

In case of any questions do not hesitate to contact Aeros at
<<aerosint>>

COMPLIANCE IS MANDATORY AND HAS TO BE ACHIEVED BEFORE THE NEXT FLIGHT!

Fly safe!