The helicopter was returning to its base in Macedo de Cavaleiros, Bragança district, after carrying out a medical emergency mission to transport a seriously ill patient to the Santo António Hospital in Porto. The accident was located some 4-5 hours after the helicopter was reported missing. All four on board died in the accident, named in this… Read more »
15-Dec-18
The world’s four leading helicopter manufacturers have agreed plans for the implementation of enhancements to their Helicopter Terrain Avoidance and Warning Systems (HTAWS). At a recent meeting organised by HeliOffshore, senior representatives from Airbus Helicopters, Bell, Leonardo Helicopters, Sikorsky and avionics manufacturer Honeywell met with officials from the European Aviation Safety Agency and the UK… Read more »
Source: HeliOffshore, 14-Dec-18
Bell has been made aware of cases where corrosion has been found on the freewheel assembly housing surface to the engine gearbox interface. Following investigation, it was discovered that the surface paint masking of the interface of freewheel housing 406-040-500-107 is best adapted to fit on the model 206L4 and 407. This freewheel housing when… Read more »
Source: Bell, 10-Dec-18
Offshore helicopter flights are just part of a very broad range of engineering support services provided by Babcock International Group. These also include decommissioning nuclear sites, building warships, and maintaining railway infrastructure and powerlines. A key common theme between these safety critical activities is that they are conducted in highly regulated environments. David Plester, managing… Read more »
Source: HeliOffshore, 07-Dec-18
The monthly bulletin from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch has been released. This month’s issue does not refer to any helicopters and this update is included in HeliHub.com for completeness. However, the AAIB separately released a “Special Bulletin” the same day, which is as follows: AAIB Special Bulletin S2/2018 on Agusta AW169, G-VSKP
Source: AAIB, 06-Dec-18
Bell has received field reports of cabin interior protective pads held in position with VELCRO® that disbond from the cabin structure. This is more likely to occur to those aircraft located in a hot and humid environment. To address this condition, Bell engineering has developed new interior protective pads, adding snaps to the interface to… Read more »
Source: Bell, 06-Dec-18
This Technical Bulletin introduces the procedures to upgrade the 429-001-523-101/- 103 and 429-001-532-101/-103 bellcrank assemblies to the latest configuration 429- 001-523-107 and 429-001-532-107 which utilizes corrosion resistant steel bearings. Bellcranks upgraded in accordance with this Technical Bulletin will not be affected by PART II of the Alert Service Bulletin (ASB) 429-15-21 Revision B. Customers should… Read more »
Source: Bell, 03-Dec-18
Last week, two air accidents took place within a span of three days which resulted in killing three crews and injuring three others. A Let L-410UVP-E20 aircraft belonging to Summit Air (Goma Air) crashed when it attempted to land on runway 06 at Lukla-Tenzing-Hillary Airport airstrip in Nepal on May 28 killing two cockpit crews… Read more »
Source: Aviation Nepal, 03-Dec-18
Crashed into river when hovering and taking up water for firefighting operation for a fire on Mount Youngchuk. The rescue services said the helicopter crashed into the Han River near Gangdong Bridge around 11:20 a.m. The pilot and copilot were able to exit the aircraft immediately prior to impact, but the mechanic was trapped in… Read more »
01-Dec-18
We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Leonardo S.p.A. (Leonardo) Model AW189 helicopters. This AD requires replacing the tail plane lower fitting with an improved tail plane lower fitting. This AD was prompted by reports of cracks on the tail plane fittings of Model AW189 helicopters. The actions of this AD are intended… Read more »
Source: FAA, 30-Nov-18
A Turkish military UH-1 has crashed in the Sancaktepe district of Istanbul, with four fatalities and a fifth person with serious injuries
26-Nov-18
The U.S. Helicopter Safety Team (www.USHST.org) looked at 10 years of helicopter operations data from Jan. 2009 through 2018 and compared the share of flight hours of every industry type with the percentage share of total accidents and fatal accidents. During this period, U.S. civil helicopters flew more than 31 million flight hours and experienced… Read more »
Source: USHST, 20-Nov-18
We are revising Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2013-21-05 for Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH (now Airbus Helicopters Deutschland GmbH) (Airbus Helicopters) Model EC135 P1, P2, P2+, T1, T2, and T2+ helicopters. AD 2013-21-05 required an initial and repetitive inspections of certain bearings and modifying the floor and a rod. Since we issued AD 2013-21-05, we have determined that… Read more »
Source: FAA, 16-Nov-18
The monthly bulletin from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch has been released. This month’s issue covers the accident(s) of:- Cessna 152 (G-WACG) and Guimbal Cabri G2 (G-JAMM), mid-air collision, Near Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire, 17 November 2017 Rotorway Executive 90 (G-BZES), loss of control while inadvertently descending downwind, Fenland Airfield, Lincolnshire, 1 July 2018
Source: AAIB, 12-Nov-18
The 2018 Symposium, 4th – 5th December 2018, will feature about 30 presentations on the latest developments in the rotorcraft industry with a strong focus on Safety. EASA will present the main elements of the future Rotorcraft Strategic Safety Roadmap. Join and engage with about 300 participants across the industry on: How can technologies help… Read more »
Source: EASA, 06-Nov-18
The International Helicopter Safety Team (www.IHST.org) has initiated its fourth annual survey of civil helicopter operators located in key regions around the world in order to gain a broader understanding of where safety initiatives are being implemented. A link to the survey form can be found on the IHST web site: http://ihst.org/Default.aspx?tabid=2593 The IHST’s worldwide… Read more »
Source: IHST, 02-Nov-18
Helicopter took off from Leicester City FC stadium and crashed shortly after in the adjacent car park. Five fatalities named by police as Club chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, two members of his staff, Nursara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare, pilot Eric Swaffer and passenger Izabela Roza Lechowicz.
27-Oct-18
We are superseding Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2017-13-03 for Bell Helicopter Textron Canada Limited (Bell) Model 429 helicopters. AD 2017-13-03 required adding an identification number to life-limited rod ends that do not have a serial number (S/N). Since we issued AD 2017-13-03, an additional life-limited rod end was identified that is affected by the same unsafe… Read more »
Source: FAA, 23-Oct-18
We are publishing a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Bell Helicopter Textron Canada Limited (Bell) Model 429 helicopters. This AD was sent previously to all known U.S. owners and operators of these helicopters as Emergency AD 2018-16-51, dated July 26, 2018, which superseded Emergency AD 2018-15-51, dated July 20, 2018. This AD requires inspecting the… Read more »
Source: FAA, 22-Oct-18
The monthly bulletin from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch has been released. This month’s issue covers the accident(s) of:- AS350 B3e (G-MATH), loss of control during hydraulics-off training, Wycombe Air Park, Buckinghamshire, 5 May 2017 Robinson R44 (G-CTFL) and Robinson R44 (G-HYND), loss of control to G-CFTL after reversing into G-HYND’s main rotor, Cumbernauld Airport, North Lanarkshire,… Read more »
Source: AAIB, 11-Oct-18
