Saw a cracked connector on a G650 in Scottsdale, curious if it's common

Was doing a walkthrough at a hangar near Scottsdale Airport last Tuesday, and someone had a Gulfstream 650 open for a 24-month check. Noticed a circular Mil-spec connector on the tailcone harness with stress cracks around the backshell, seemed like classic vibration damage. The lead tech said they'd had two others this year on the same aircraft type, all in similar spots. Have any of you seen that pattern on bizjets, or is this just a local thing with hard landings in the desert heat?

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benk2611d ago

Classic vibration damage" is exactly what I would call it too. We had the same thing pop up on a Challenger 604 about a year ago, same spot on the tailcone harness, and the backshell cracks were almost identical to what you're describing. Turned out the support clamp right above it had worked loose and let the whole bundle flex way more than it should have. I don't think it's a desert thing, we're up in the Pacific Northwest and still saw it. Definitely worth checking the clamps and strain reliefs on the whole run, not just swapping the connector.

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