Lu Z wrote:
The strongest words were my telling the FAA I was absolving myself of any responsibility in the event of a crash and a subsequent lawsuit. In said lawsuit these causal problems would come up and the improper certification process would also come to light and the finger would point not only to the DGCA but the FAA as well.
Yeah...uhh...maybe. Again, you can say anything you want about something not being your responsibility or heap it on someone else. It doesn't matter. I suppose that you imagine it'll go something like this?
FAA: "Your honor, we believe that Mr. Zuckerman with one 'n' is solely responsible for this accident due to his negligence in releasing an aircraft for flight with a known deficiency."
Defense Attorney: "Your honor! Mr. Zuckerman wrote the FAA a letter absolving himself of
any responsibility in this situation!"
Judge (looking surprised): "Oh really?? Let me see that. Hmm...CASE DISMISSED!"
Yeah, right. Good luck, mate.
But it is good to get people on record when it comes to known deficiencies. At least there will be others to stand with when the fingers start pointing.
SASless wrote:
how about the 200 hour blade grip inspections on the Bell 212....now that is progress. Remember the wonderful LTS-101 hot end inspections....if you got one to last that long....after all 25 hours is a lot of flying.
I remember Bell 206 TT straps with a 300 hour retirement life, too. As with the 212 grip inspections, we will see more of these things in the future. But does this make a case for better inspection procedures, lower retirement life or the advent of newer helicopter designs that are cost-effective enough replace the old? Maybe all three?
The average fleet age on the 212's was from 28,000-31,000 hours......most of that flying offshore.....and some of them are still flying. The overhaul period had been extended from 1200 hours to over 3000 hours.....that is the reason the corrosion was so bad.....it had too long to act before being caught. A poor accounting decison over-riding good engineering.
Yeah, but again, helicopters don't get scrapped with all the expensive kibbles and bits still attached. They are cannibalised for every useable part. Me, I'd rather not see 28,000-hour airframes doddering around the skies, with good corrosion prevention or not!