In the late spring, a 7X experienced unexpected loss of control during a routine landing. The crew did an amazing job regaining control of the aircraft; however, the issue was declared to dangerous and the Falcon 7X was grounded until further investigation.
The problem turned out to be a production defect in one of the electronic components – the Horizontal Stabilizer Electronic Control Unit. As of June 16th, Dassault issued a modification and procedural protocol to resolve the issue. All Falcon 7X models with the Horizontal Stabilizer Electronic Control Unit which have been switched out for the modified unit are considered airworthy and have or will resume flights soon!
Occurances such as this make you think twice about always wanting the latest/greatest. I had the first revised version on the BMW 745 when they came out with the new gorgeous body style and the iDrive control that nobody could seem to figure out back then. The 2002 model (like mine) was the first production year and it certainly had some bugs to iron out. I used to tell BMW that their was a ghost in my iDrive because it would do some really bizarre things. The same goes for anything new; especially something with a lot of electronics. It seems like the more amazing the electronics are – the more amazing the the chance for some bugs to need to be worked out! I, personally, learned my lesson about needing the latest/greatest with a machine that stays on the ground… NOT SURE I WANT TO BE IN THE AIR WHEN WE DISCOVER A BUG!