An Eclipse Jet EA50/W had water in the static system causing the stall warning system to activate; the autopilot to not function; and ADC 3 to fail. The systems return to normal below 14;000'.

2009-10 · NASA ASRS report 857429

Date: 2009-10 · Aircraft: Eclipse 500

Anomalies: aircraft-equipment-problem-critical

Synopsis

An Eclipse Jet EA50/W had water in the static system causing the stall warning system to activate; the autopilot to not function; and ADC 3 to fail. The systems return to normal below 14;000'.

Narrative

I was descending from FL350 to FL330 on autopilot; I encountered several emergency warning lights on my crew alerting system (CAS) on the multi-function display. They occurred just as the aircraft was approaching FL330. First; there was the Airspeed Disagree; followed by Stick Pusher Failure and then the Yaw Damper and the Autopilot disengaged. Then the ADC 3 failed. As I was reacting to these emergencies; the aircraft descended below FL330 and I corrected as soon as possible back to FL330; but could not engage the autopilot or yaw damper. I informed the Controller I was having problems. Shortly thereafter I got an audible and visual Stall Warning and the equivalent airspeed froze at approximately 235 knots. The Stall Warning remained on for 15 to 20 minutes. I informed the next Controller I was having problems and continued to analyze the situation. I requested a descent in order to descend below RVSM. I continued my descent and at approximately 14;000 feet the Stall Warning stopped and I was able to engage the yaw damper. The landing was uneventful. The consensus was water in the pitot or static system. I have taken corrective action and determined that it was water in the static system. I have flown five times since at 14;000; 11;500; FL330; FL340 and 11;500 and experienced no further problems. I now put colored tape over the static ports before departing the aircraft (if left outside).

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.

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