AB206 -v- B206 & EASA.
Hello everyone,
I am hoping, that through the Pprune forum, I can reach the owners/operators of AB206's throughout Europe. 487 machines (or thereabouts)were built by Agusta, 40 of which reside in the UK. I have written the below correspondence to the UK owners, and have received a high percentage of replies - all of which I must add, consisted of negativity concerning the current standards of parts availability under the new EASA ruling.
I am working hard to hopefully resolve this bizarre problem, and would welcome comments from any AB206 owner/operators with experiences, both good or bad in obtaining parts. Please contact me via either PM or email in this regard. Thanks for your time!
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Dear AB206 owner,
From personal experience of the delays in getting parts for my Agusta Bell 206, I feel it necessary to publish this open discussion document regarding the supply of approved parts for my AB206. Due to recent changes in legislation and the rigorous enforcing of the "No Bell parts to be fitted to an Agusta Bell", I have found that the support for the Agusta Bell Fleet in UK to be sadly lacking.Having discovered that the majority of the parts supplied by Agusta for fitment to AB206's are sourced from Bell Helicopters, and then submitted for inspection prior to having an EASA Form 1 produced by the Type Certificate owner, it begs the question "Why does it take so long to get AB206 parts?"Having suffered recently from the lack of parts availability, and the grounding of my aircraft until the parts were received (nearly 7 weeks for a half-shaft bearing), I decided to investigate this further, so that I could satisfy myself that everything was either being done or going to be done to keep me airworthy and legal in the future.I contacted EASA and the CAA regarding my plight, however, as supportive and sympathetic as they were, the outcome was not going to change.It is apparent that due to the fact "everybody" was fitting Bell parts to their Agusta because the lead times/availability were good, Agusta were not aware of the amount of items that were required to support the UK fleet. Thus, the provisioning of the parts by Agusta to support the AB206 got smaller and smaller to the point were everyday items were not available. Now that the new legislation is starting to bite, and maintenance companies are under considerable obligation to fit "Applicable" parts, the provisioning of the parts really has to start from scratch it appears. One could consider that other EASA regulated countries still toed the line, and would have given Agusta a feel for the requirements, but further contact with European owners/operators indicated an ignorance or avoidance of the "No Bell parts to be fitted to an Agusta Bell" ruling.I am also aware that extra discounts are available to Agusta Service Centres if parts for scheduled maintenance are ordered 12 months or more in advance, thus allowing Agusta a reasonable amount of time to provision for known parts that are arising.I would much appreciate any feedback from Agusta Bell 206 owners regarding the supply of parts from Agusta, and the effects that they have experienced due to encountering the same problems that I have recently.
I have a meeting scheduled with Agusta senior management before the end of the year. It would be extremely helpful if all owner/operators could contact me as soon as possible in this regard with your experiences/current problems and observations.
Thank you in advance,
Kind regards.