ok, but when my car gets recalled its generally not life or death. Lets ramp things up a little and get the helicopter industry out of the pioneer age. We don't accept risk like this anymore and the industry should rise to the challenge. As I said before, if Boeing or Airbus was to hit the headlines with chafed pipes, twisting airframes, cracked tail pylons on brand new airframes the traveling public would revolt. This are real faults on 21st century aircraft.
What sort of a facile statement is that?
I’ve lost track of the number of times a well known car manufacturer has had to recall up to several million vehicles due to exploding fuel tanks and faulty cruise control systems, both potentially lethal.
PHI recently passed 10,000 flight hours in just two year of OPS with only a handful of S-92’s, so they can’t be that bad on reliability and safety.
You show me an aircraft that’s never been grounded for lack of spare parts and I’ll show you a suspended museum piece.
Serious as it can be, if fretting of an oil line causes you this much concern, then don’t dare read through the list of ASB’s and AD’s that apply to a host of very well known and respected helicopters flying around our skies daily.
Having spent 10-years on Chinooks in the 80’s I can testify that fretting was something you lived with and if you’ve ever been onboard at 155 Kts you’ll understand why.
Sadly, even Boeing and Airbus have witnessed some pretty catastrophic events even in recent times. However, with a 737 taking off every 5-seconds worldwide, you are able to bring their safety into context and this is likely to apply to the S-92 as well.
Just about every decision you make every day involves risk, from what food you eat to where you cross the road and that’s before you risk the consequences of defying gravity.
It’s not in the interests of any manufacturer to play with safety, but if its zero risk you demand then may I suggest you keep your toes under the quilt all day.