This circular Q&A is making me dizzy. Ridiculous.
Pitts, do you realize how many a/c, certified and happily flying pax every day, are out there with AD's and additional inspections to components just as critical as the 225 MGB? For instance blades (main and tailrotor), grips, shafts......
This is how it works! Every a/c ever certified and every a/c that will be certified will encounter a situation where real life differs from the computer model and things must be tweaked. We don't go back to a clean sheet design every time this happens.
It is
NOT press-on-it is to follow what is written. Some crews will choose to be more cautious and that is their prerogative just as it is situational. If a corporation chooses to be additionally cautious because they work for risk averse customers, that too is their prerogative.
It then goes on to say that “The flight manual requires the helicopter to land as soon as possible, without exceeding 2 hours”.
We also know the thresholds vary from aircraft to aircraft – hence the need for a learned threshold and an absolute limit.
If the MOD45 alarm could – for whatever reason –signal a failure that is beyond that already understood by recent events and since the grounding operators have managed to continue to provide service and a “proper” fix is due in 1 year. It therefore seems a huge gamble with the Eurocopter brand, for operators, crew and passengers to push on, MOD45 alarming for 2 hours??
Land as soon as POSSIBLE, not IMMEDIATELY. Or perhaps to be interpreted as POSSIBLE with an escalation to IMMEDIATE is a better interpretation. The professionals are accustomed to dealing with these kind of decisions, THAT is why they make the big bucks, not for pushing buttons when things are going well.
Personally, I would have no qualms about riding in the back of 225 offshore today. And yes I understand the consequences as I have already rode one [helicopter] in!