Operators of the Airbus Helicopters H225 are facing a fresh safety issue, this time focused on the heavy-twin’s Safran Helicopter Engines Makila 2 powerplants.
European safety regulators are mandating, via an emergency airworthiness directive, the replacement of certain bevel gears in the engine’s number one module.
The move follows the in-flight shutdown of a Makila turboshaft, says the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
“Subsequent investigations identified rupture of several teeth of the module 1 bevel gear, due to fatigue propagation,†says EASA.
This was traced to a manufacturing fault afflicting a batch of the components, it says.
If not addressed, the problem could lead to a “further in-flight shutdown, possibly resulting in reduced control of the helicopter or total loss of powerâ€.
Operators with two affected engines must replace the part or powerplant before the helicopter’s next flight, says the safety directive.
Those with only one non-compliant engine should replace it within 100 flight hours or 12 months.
H225s in the second group are, however, subject to a heightened inspection regime.
The Super Puma family has only recently begin to recover from a fatal accident in 2016 in which thirteen passengers and crew were killed, caused by the catastrophic in-flight failure of an H225’s main gearbox.
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