Bell misleads 407 owners
After the numerous crashes involving Bell 407's, mainly due to the tail rotor hitting the boom or the boom breaking off, Bell introduced all sorts of quick fix solutions, and promised their 407 owners that they have come up with the solution, and that all is well.
Not so, Bell! A Bell 407, ZS-RLS, belonging to a Cape Town based helicopter operator, was involved in such an incident recently.
The pilot landed, ran down the engine for 2 minutes, then shut it down. After the engine was shut down, he heard a scraping noise, and an investigation to the tail after the blades had stopped, revealed that the tail rotor had hit the boom. Now where is the fix now dear Bell people?? Thank God it did'nt happen in flight, because then that helicopter and its occupants would have become another statistic.
This is the first time ever that Bell is now in a position to evaluate the situation, as everything on the helicopter is intact. During the 407 crashes, the helicopters were normally totally destyroyed, so Bell could not say what caused it. Here is the evidence. The "quick fix" that Bell promised, has failed, and all 407's should therefore regarded as suspect.
It is alledged that the South African Bell rep inspected the helicopter, and he could offer no solution, as the pedal stops were'nt open. A SACAA inspector had a subsequent discussion with the Bell rep, and wanted to know if Bell intended grounding the fleet, to which the Bell rep responded 'negative".
Now I would say that that is a very irresponsible approach, as for the first time now there is a 407 in one piece, on the ground for Bell to evaluate the problem, and Bell says "no thanks"
It is believed that all the 407 crashes was the result of the tail rotor hitting the boom, the boom then breaking off due to excessive vibration, and the helicopters being totally destroyed in the process.
I will not risk my life poling a 407, and all 407 operators should take note of this incident, and pressurize Bell into doing something about it.