"You are very quick to blame the engineers. Who said that the engineering company left this foreign body on the TR drive shaft? What about the pilot's Check A before the flight? Why didn't he find it? Or, could it have been him (the pilot) that left it there? "
Does the RFM require the pilot to remove the tail rotor drive shaft cowlings in his walk round?
Claudia - what else should a pilot look for in his walk round. Does he need to strip the ship into its individual components just to be sure nothing is amiss?
Looks to me that the pilot did a fine job in an extreem situation, and i wish him a speedy recovery.
ATB
Red