NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Preliminary Evaluation PE11-027: Fire truck aerial ladder failure
- Closed
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Preliminary Evaluation PE11-027 on August 16, 2011 and closed it on February 17, 2012. NHTSA's investigations file lists the KME Aerialcat and Ariel Cat for it and links recall 12V-027 to it.
Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file
Key facts
- NHTSA number
- PE11-027 (also written PE11027)
- Investigation type
- Preliminary Evaluation The first stage of most defect investigations: NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation gathers basic information about a possible safety defect, including from the manufacturer.
- Status
- Closed February 17, 2012
- Opened
- Closed
- Vehicle or equipment manufacturers
- Kovatch Mobile Equipment Corp.; KME Fire Apparatus
- Component
- Equipment
- Recall linked by NHTSA
- 12V-027: HYDRAULIC CONTROLS, reported
- Vehicles and equipment
- KME Aerialcat and Ariel Cat
NHTSA's summary
As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Preliminary Evaluation PE11-027.
On August 16th 2011 the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this Preliminary Evaluation (PE11-027) on Kovatch Mobile Equipment (KME) Aerial Cat 2003 - 2011 Fire trucks concerning an alleged failure related to a fire truck's aerial ladder.
The electronic-over-hydraulic controller that is used to move the aerial bucket fails, causing an unintended movement of the aerial device on certain KME aerial ladder/platform trucks.
This unintended movement of the aerial ladder bucket constitutes an unreasonable risk to safety as the movement may occur in an unintended direction possibly near electrical power lines, structures, or a fire.
The manufacturer will conduct a safety recall.
The remedy KME will implement updates the software for the controller, including a triple redundancy system.
One of the systems disables all platform aerial movement controls immediately upon actuation of the dead man's switch at the turntable.
This PE is closed with a Safety Recall (12V-027).
The ODI reports cited above can be reviewed at www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchNHTSAID under the following identification (ODI) number: 10418106
Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation
NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Preliminary Evaluation PE11-027. A listed model year means only that an investigation names it; it says nothing about any particular vehicle. Model years with a try.vin recall page link to that page's NHTSA investigations section.
What an NHTSA investigation is
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) looks into possible safety defects in vehicles and equipment, often after owner complaints. An investigation usually starts as a Preliminary Evaluation, or as a Recall Query when it concerns whether an existing recall covers the right vehicles or fixes the problem, and ODI can upgrade it to a more detailed Engineering Analysis. A Defect Petition asks NHTSA to open an investigation, and Audit and Equipment Queries are administrative investigations into whether companies complied with federal vehicle safety requirements, such as reporting, recall and certification rules.
An open investigation is not a finding that a safety defect exists, and NHTSA can close one without a recall.
To see whether a specific vehicle has an open recall, enter its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Free VIN check: decode a VIN to see its year, make and model.
Sources
NHTSA's investigation record for PE11-027
Investigation details come from NHTSA's investigations file, which try.vin imports once a day. The investigation types are described from the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General's May 2023 report on NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA's petition rules (49 CFR Parts 552 and 557) and NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation procedures. How try.vin reads NHTSA investigations.