Cessna Citation Sovereign (C680)
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Communication Breakdown
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General Flight Cancelled / Delayed; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft; Company Policy; Human Factors
I have now preflighted two aircraft in a row that have had rudder cables routed incorrectly. There are two rudder cables running through the aircraft hell hole that are guided by phenolic block fairleads. These blocks have two holes; one for each cable. However in the two aircraft I pre-flighted; the two rudder cables were running through one hole. You can see the two cables routed through one hole with a slight bow on the one cable and could be adding more tension to the cable than it's suppose to have.I did compare my preflighted aircraft routing to another CE-680; it was routed where the cables were running one cable per hole; this is the correct way. The two aircraft I had where they [cables] were routed wrong were Aircraft X and Y. Aircraft X's Corrective Action (C/A) showed they had to disconnect the cable and route it the correct way. I am concerned that more aircraft could be this way. I think there should be an immediate special inspection on all CE-680 aircraft for this issue.
Reporter stated when he found the first CE-680 with two rudder cables going through the same fairlead; the aircraft was grounded and taken out of service. He was given another CE-680 and sure enough; the same condition existed where both rudder cables were routed through the same section of fairlead. The location of the misrouted rudder cables was in the 'Hell-Hole' under the Right Engine pylon; above the Aft Baggage compartment. The area is very tight and also includes hydraulic accumulators and Engine Fire bottles.Reporter stated there is only one set of Rudder cables for the aircraft and no Break-away mechanism. No hydraulic power for the flight control surfaces. Another CE-680 pilot informed him that he also; had recently found two other CE-680 aircraft with the same condition. Each fairlead for the Rudder cables is divided into two sections; where the Left and Right rudder pedal cable are separately routed through. In all the aircraft that he and the other CE-680 pilot had noted; both rudder cables were routed through only one side (section) of the fairlead; not even a pencil width apart. He did not see any noticeable on the rudder cables.Reporter stated there is a Service Bulletin to inspect for impact damage cracks at the rudder hinges; especially at the middle hinge and rudder skin cutout. He believes one of the CE-680 rudder's was changed for hinge cracks related to Gust Lock issues. He has ten years previous military aircraft maintenance experience.
A pilot reports finding the Left and Right Rudder pedal cables mis-routed through a cable fairlead in the Aft fuselage section on two Cessna CE-680 aircraft during his preflight checks. Adding to his concerns about the maintenance discrepancy was the revelation that another CE-680 pilot had informed him about finding two other Cessna Sovereign aircraft with the similar rudder cable misrouting through fairleads.