Government plans to lease a Learjet 45 from next month prior to buying one at the end of the year are set to be scrapped after the aircraft was grounded due to safety fears.
The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) ordered the grounding of all 222 Learjet 45s last month over concerns that a part in the tail section could fail, causing the plane to go out of control.
The Government says it is confident the fault will be rectified to allow its new jet to be delivered on time at the end of the year before the start of Ireland's EU Presidency on January 1st.
However, plans to lease a similar aircraft from October 1st until delivery of the new plane may be abandoned as work continues on rectifying the fault in the model.
The Government had hoped to lease the plane for about three months to cope with increased ministerial travel demands in the run-up to the presidency. The temporary aircraft would have been flown by hired crew, but the leasing arrangement would have allowed Air Corps pilots and personnel to become familiar with the model before the new jet is delivered.
A Department of Defence spokesman said yesterday that such a plane would have been leased if one could have been sourced from an existing owner at a competitive rate. Now it was likely that air taxis would be hired instead when required, as the fault in the Learjet has still not been rectified.
The €9 million jet ordered by the Government is still being built and will not therefore contain the faulty part. The spokesman said a replacement part for the grounded jets was still being tested in the US, and it is not known when it will be approved and fitted in all 222 aircraft.
The Learjet 45, made by the Canadian company Bombardier, was grounded after the discovery that a screw-and-nut assembly in the horizontal stabiliser control could break. The FAA said that failure of this part could lead to loss of control of the aircraft. News of the grounding emerged on TV3 News last night.
Investigation of this problem began last March when one of the aircraft experienced a severe vibration and a sudden downward pitch. The crew were able to regain control of the jet.
All jets are to have the faulty part replaced before being allowed fly again.
The Government decided in July to purchase a seven-seater jet rather than go ahead with the acquisition of a larger 40-seat aircraft as had been originally planned. The decision to go for a smaller plane was based on the worsening public finances and the need to be seen to be controlling Government spending. The Government is to retain its existing 14-seat Gulfstream IV.