Australia and
Germany ground
Tiger ARHs
The Australian Army grounded
its Tiger armed reconnaissance
helicopters (ARH) in August
following the loss of a German
army-operated machine
which crashed in unexplained
circumstances near the eastern
Mali town of Gao.
It has also been reported that
Spain subsequently suspended
operations of its Tigers. Little
detail has been released about the
circumstances of the crash, but the
German defence ministry indicated
that the Tiger lost its main rotor
blades after entering a sudden
steep descent. The wreckage was
consumed by a post-impact fire.
Crash investigators have
recovered the helicopter’s f light-
data recorders, but both are
heavily damaged and may be
unuseable. Airbus Helicopters,
while not directly participating
in the accident probe, was
contractually required to issue a
notice advising that the Tiger is
unsafe, without being able to offer
any safety guidance or possible
root cause of the accident.
UK CAA and
Norwegian
authorities lift
Super Puma ban
The UK Civil Aviation Authority
(CAA) and the Norwegian AIBN
will allow EC225LP/H225 Super
Puma f lights to resume if operators
meet new safety conditions.
The grounding followed a crash
involving a Super Puma off the
coast of Norway in April 2016.
The decision to allow f lights to
resume was made after receiving
extensive information from the
Norwegian accident investigators
and being satisfied with the
subsequent changes introduced
by Airbus Helicopters through
detailed assessment and analysis.
Bell has
resumed flight
testing of its 525
Relentless.australianflying.com.au 73
November – December 2017 AUSTRALIAN FLYINGFLEET HELICOPTERS
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PO Box 453, Armidale,
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[email protected]A raft of changes including
replacement of suspect gearbox
components, and reduced
inspection periods will be
implemented. British Petroleum
(BP), Bristow, and Era have all
confirmed that they will not
reinstate Super Puma operations
until the completion of the AIBN
and Airbus investigation into the
fatal crash. A CASA spokesman
advised that Australian examples
currently remain grounded.Bell Relentless
resumes flight
testing
Bell Helicopter announced in
early July that its 525 Relentless
program had resumed f light
testing after receiving its
experimental certificate renewal
from the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA).
“We have resumed a key element
of the Bell 525 program,” said
Mitch Snyder, president and CEO.
“Bell Helicopter has worked with
the National Transportation Safety
Board (NTSB) and FAA since
the loss of the prototype in July
2016, and we are confident in the
resumption of f light testing with a
focus on certification in 2018.” The
Bell 525 is the world ’s first f ly-by-
wire commercial helicopter.FAA certifies
bicycle racks for
Airbus H125/AS350
Canadian-based Aero Design
announced in late June that it
had received Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) certification
for its Airbus Helicopters H125/
AS350 bicycle racks.
The rack allows the transport
of three bikes per side and will
accept a bike with a 29-inch wheel.
Aero Design’s quick release system
also allows a choice of fixtures
including four sizes of cargo basket,
bicycle rack, step or a mix of all to
be rapidly fitted or removed. Aero
Design president Jason Rekvesaid, “The bicycle racks have met
with outstanding success both in
Canada and throughout Europe,
and now we are excited to be able
to offer them to US operators and
cycling enthusiasts.”AW189 operators
warned of
explosion risk
The European Aviation Safety
Agency (EASA) and Leonardo are
calling for modification of AW189
extended range underbelly fuel
tank bonding, highlighting a
possible explosion risk with the
current configuration.
EASA’s proposed airworthinessdirective (AD) is related to the
electrical bonding on the fuel
sump plate. The underbelly tank
sump and sump covers are bonded
to the external helicopter skin,
and in case of a lightning strike,
a small amount of the electrical
current could be diverted inside
the sump plate and into wiring
inside the fuel tanks creating an
ignition source possibly resulting
in a fire or explosion.
The AD requires operators to
modify the electrical bonding of
the underbelly fuel tank sumps
by replacing and re-routing
the existing copper straps with
bonding cables within 300 hours
of the effective date of the AD.BELL HELICOPTER