The defect
Blue Bird Body Company (Blue Bird) is recalling certain model year 2007-2015 All American and Vision and 2007-2011 Micro Bird transit buses equipped with certain model S2005, S2010, S5005, S5010, S5505, and S5510 wheelchair lifts manufactured January 1, 2006, to August 25, 2014 by the Ricon Corporation. The affected lifts are equipped with folding link arms that may have pivot holes that are too big, allowing the bearings to move out of position.
The risk
If the bearings move out of position, the stowed platform may have excessive movement resulting in failure of the platform mounting. This failure could cause the wheel chair lift platform to fall out of the vehicle when the doors are opened, increasing the risk of injury for the lift operator.
The remedy
Blue Bird will notify owners, and Ricon dealers will inspect the link arms for damage or for displaced bearings. The platform will be inspected for cracks. Any damaged parts will be replaced, free of charge. The recall began on December 1, 2015. Owners may contact Blue Bird customer service at 1-478-822-2242, or Ricon Customer Service at 1-800-322-2884.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 |
| Blue Bird Micro Bird | 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 |
Components: EQUIPMENT ADAPTIVE/MOBILITY
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2007 | 4 | 21 |
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2008 | 4 | 32 |
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2009 | 3 | 33 |
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2010 | 0 | 42 |
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2011 | 0 | 35 |
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2012 | 0 | 30 |
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2013 | 1 | 28 |
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2014 | 0 | 26 |
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2015 | 3 | 27 |
| Blue Bird Micro Bird | 2007 | 0 | 10 |
| Blue Bird Micro Bird | 2008 | 0 | 16 |
| Blue Bird Micro Bird | 2009 | 0 | 14 |
| Blue Bird Micro Bird | 2010 | 0 | 12 |
| Blue Bird Micro Bird | 2011 | 0 | 5 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2007 | 3 | 21 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2008 | 1 | 30 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2009 | 6 | 28 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2010 | 2 | 25 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2011 | 0 | 22 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2012 | 1 | 19 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2013 | 2 | 25 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2014 | 0 | 22 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2015 | 4 | 27 |
Other equipment adaptive/mobility recalls in 2015
30 of the 863 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2015 concerned the equipment adaptive/mobility; Blue Bird Body Company filed 162 campaigns in all.
| 15V870000 23 Dec 2015 | Navistar, Inc. |
| 15V868000 22 Dec 2015 | Navistar, Inc. |
| 15V827000 9 Dec 2015 | Ameritrans Bus, Inc. |
| 15V779000 20 Nov 2015 | New England Wheels |
| 15V772000 19 Nov 2015 | Kingmor Supply, Inc. |
| 15V770000 19 Nov 2015 | Corp. Micro Bird Inc. |
| 15V773000 19 Nov 2015 | Coach and Equipment Mfg Corp. |
| 15V768000 18 Nov 2015 | Forest River, Inc. |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2015