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Choppers on the shelf
Officials say the aircraft were grounded due to cracked parts, but the manufacturer disputes the claims
BY RICK BRAND
STAFF WRITER
December 30, 2004
Two Suffolk police medevac helicopters -- purchased three years ago for just under $5 million each -- have been grounded because their financially troubled manufacturer is balking at replacing cracked parts.
Police officials say the loss of the two choppers, built by Mesa, Ariz.-based MD Helicopters, forced the county to shut down the air unit at Gabreski Airport in Westhampton earlier this month, adding 15 minutes to East End rescues.
The county's lone remaining A-Star B2 helicopter, made by Texas-based American Eurocopter, will stop operating out of Long Island MacArthur Airport on Saturday during a week or two of routine maintenance. As a result, the entire Suffolk aviation unit will be shut down for the first time in decades, according to police officials.
As an emergency replacement, state police have agreed to supply a medevac helicopter and pilot to the county for two weeks beginning this weekend.
County Executive Steve Levy blamed the problem on cracked rotor hubs and called the grounded choppers "clunkers." He said the county is investigating whether it can file a lawsuit to recoup its money.
"Helicopters that cost millions should have a shelf life of a decade or more, not just a few years," Levy said. "It looks like the state may have to pass a 'lemon law' for medevac helicopters."
The county legislature last week approved an emergency resolution to spend $3.1 million for a new helicopter. However, it cannot be delivered until at least May at the earliest due to county bid procedures. Levy said its "highly unlikely" Suffolk will buy the new aircraft from MD Helicopters.
Dale Christman, the MD Helicopters salesman who handled the Suffolk purchase, said his company is aware of the county's complaints. But Christman said MD Helicopters does not agree there are cracks in the rotor hubs.
Nevertheless, Christman said the company is trying to obtain replacement hubs for Suffolk, which will not be available from suppliers until after Jan. 1.
The county purchased the problem helicopters from MD Helicopters in 2001 for $4.9 million each. Levy said one of the MD 902 medevac helicopters has had continuing maintenance problems since he took office last January.
Police officials said the first aircraft was grounded in September when mechanics found hairline cracks on the rotor hub, which connect to the large blades that provide lift. Police officials took the second chopper off-line Nov. 22 for the same problem. "We've been sending the hubs back and forth to the company trying to get replacements," said Robert Anthony Moore, chief of department. "But they keep sending them back saying they are good."
The county then sent the cracked part to an independent laboratory, which not only confirmed the existence of two cracks that police mechanics found, but a third as well. Moore said the county has filed a complaint to the Federal Aviation Administration.
MD Helicopters, formerly part of McDonnell Douglas, has experienced continuing cash flow problems causing difficulty with suppliers, according to a report in Flight International, an aviation industry trade publication.
State police officials say they will send a medevac helicopter -- now stationed in Albany -- to operate out of Long Island MacArthur airport for the next two weeks. County police say a state trooper will pilot the aircraft.
Levy said it is an "open question" whether the problem helicopters can be used again.
And Legis. Angie Carpenter (R-West Islip), who sponsored the emergency measure for the new chopper, said, "I think it would be a good idea if the county just traded them in."