CharlieOneSix wrote: ↑Thu Sep 16, 2021 8:26 am
FD2 wrote: ↑Thu Sep 16, 2021 4:20 am
...... and remove them from service within three months.
How odd to have a calendar deadline for removal from the helicopter. Apart from weirdly not having to do a check until 22 September, that makes no distinction between a privately owned R44 with tail rotor cracks which only flies occasionally and one used for several hours a day on, say, gas pipe line inspection. One passes here every Tuesday doing that.
If a crack was found in the tail rotor blades of an R44 I flew I would want the blades removed immediately, if not sooner!
I agree, most strange and seems to imply a certain lack of rationality, one way or the other, in the approach to this issue in both the US and, possibly, NZ, generally methinks?
SUMMARY:
The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Robinson Helicopter Company Model R44 and R44 II helicopters. This AD was prompted by reports of cracked tail rotor blades (blades). This AD requires checking each blade for any crack and removing any cracked blade from service. This AD also requires removing all affected blades from service and prohibits installing any affected blade on any helicopter. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.
DATES:
This AD is effective September 22, 2021.
The FAA received reports of spanwise cracks found along the leading edge of part number (P/N) C029-3 blades, serial numbers (S/N) 9410 through 9909. These affected blades were factory-installed or shipped as spares between March and December 2019. The cracks were found at different inspection intervals ranging from preflight inspections to 100-hour inspections. In one instance, a cracked blade was suspected when the pilot felt abnormal vibrations during flight; subsequent investigation determined that the blade was cracked. The cause of the cracks is a manufacturing defect in the properties of the blade skin that makes the blades prone to stress corrosion cracking. This condition, if not addressed, could result in reduced controllability and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.
A duff batch or batches of blades... Surely this should require an immediate check to see whether or not a blade or blades from this part number series have been fitted to your helicopter?
https://www.federalregister.gov/documen ... elicopters