The Investigation is of the opinion that modification
of the basic seats in accordance with this Service Letter should be Mandatory for
Operators to provide a greater level of protection of the occupants. Although the seats
were in conformity with FAR 27.561 (Amendment 10) at the time of the accident, there is
no obligation for the AS350 series of helicopters to meet the more stringent current
requirements as set out in the EASA specification CS-27 (Amendment 2) 17 November
2008.
Hear hear!
There are two options for improving seats
1/ Instal new energy absorbing seats (remove flight controls and electrical harness to install reinforced floor, will take 2 approved engineers three weeks)
2/ Strengthen existing seats will take one engineer 2 days
Given that both crew members were ejected there is no reference n the report if crew were wearing helmets and if they would have helped reduce injury or death.
Mickjoebill