Jeg vil i det som følger, kikke litt på sertifiseringsprosessen av MGB`er, Main Gear Box, med accessories i helikoptre, spesielt S-92A og EC225. Jeg har selv nødlandet med en S-61N på Utsira etter tap av all MGB olje. Nødsystemet som var ettermontert, fungerte som det skulle. Det er eneste gang i min 40-årige karriere at jeg har kalt Mayday. Jeg hadde gleden av å utrede og kommentere JAR-29 for IFALPA. Jeg husker veldig godt at vi hang oss opp i sertifiseringskravene slik de var foreslått. Vi var ikke enige at en kunne få en MGB sertifsert uten å ha bevist at den kunne gå i 30 minutter uten olje. Men S-92A ble sertifisert etter at MGB bare hadde gått i 10 minutter før den skar seg. Hvordan går det an? Følg med. Jeg begynner med denne kommentaren fra 2011 hvor en tar for seg FAA`s syn om at økonomi styrer sikkerheten. I morgen vil jeg fortsette med en Canadisk aviskommentar fra august 2012.
Retrofit of helicopter gearbox not necessary: FAA
A Cougar Helicopter Sikorsky S-92A. — Telegram file phot0
- Published on July 19, 2011
- The Canadian Press ~ The News
HALIFAX — The U.S. aviation regulator says it won’t require the retrofit of a gearbox blamed in a fatal helicopter crash off Newfoundland because it would be too expensive for the industry.
The decision by the Federal Aviation Administration rejects a call by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada to phase-in a requirement that all Sikorsky S-92A gearboxes be capable of operating at least 30 minutes after losing oil.
The March 2009 crash of Cougar Flight 491 resulted in 17 deaths during a flight to an offshore oil platform, and has brought demands from the families of the victims that regulators in the United States, Canada and Europe change the rules governing the gearbox.
The FAA memo on the decision, obtained by The Canadian Press under U.S. freedom of information legislation, says the service record of the helicopter no longer supports the certification’s basic premise that the chances of an oil leak are “extremely remote.”
It also says a rule change for gearboxes will be proposed for future aircraft.
However, it says the helicopter has a good record and modifying the existing gearboxes would have a significant economic impact on the aviation industry and the cost would outweigh any improvements in safety.
The Transportation Safety Board found the primary cause of the crash in the North Atlantic was a massive loss of oil to the chopper’s main gearbox after two of three titanium studs snapped off the oil filter assembly during flight.
The decision by the Federal Aviation Administration rejects a call by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada to phase-in a requirement that all Sikorsky S-92A gearboxes be capable of operating at least 30 minutes after losing oil.
The March 2009 crash of Cougar Flight 491 resulted in 17 deaths during a flight to an offshore oil platform, and has brought demands from the families of the victims that regulators in the United States, Canada and Europe change the rules governing the gearbox.
The FAA memo on the decision, obtained by The Canadian Press under U.S. freedom of information legislation, says the service record of the helicopter no longer supports the certification’s basic premise that the chances of an oil leak are “extremely remote.”
It also says a rule change for gearboxes will be proposed for future aircraft.
However, it says the helicopter has a good record and modifying the existing gearboxes would have a significant economic impact on the aviation industry and the cost would outweigh any improvements in safety.
The Transportation Safety Board found the primary cause of the crash in the North Atlantic was a massive loss of oil to the chopper’s main gearbox after two of three titanium studs snapped off the oil filter assembly during flight.
Fartøysjef Jan Møller Andersen i Bristow puster lettet ut etter den svært utfordrende redningsoperasjonen sist fredag.
