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Old 12th Jul 2013, 14:57
  #341 (permalink)  
HeliComparator
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Aberdeen
Age: 67
Posts: 2,094
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Pitts, are you sure you aren't a Daily Mail reporter in disguise?

Firstly, you say "...its very clear that there there is motivation to get the 225 flying..." - as if that is surprising or unreasonable. Surely the point of having a helicopter is to fly it. So try not to make it sound like a bad thing!

Secondly, on the subject of the MOD45 threshold, you are correct it has been significantly reduced. However, this relates to the point in a degradation process where the alert is triggered, not whether it is triggered or not. Once degradation starts, it is a continuous and worsening situation so it won't be the case that a MOD45 warning would be received by the new threshold and not by the old one, it will just happen sooner in the process.

If you are concerned that there may be spurious MOD45 warnings, that is a more reasonable position because I think that is certainly a possibility. EC have reprocessed a lot of HUMS data and we are assured that virtually no data would have exceeded the new thresholds. Virtually none, so in fact some would! However if you look at the consequences, the pilot has to reduce power a bit and land within 2 hours, not exactly a major crisis. An operational inconvenience, not a safety hazard.

Finally on the L2, had the HUMS data been properly regarded with the proper maintenance actions occuring, the accident would have been prevented. Adding a cockpit light would have been a "belt and braces" boost to flight safety by reducing the probability of a maintenance error leading to an accident, but its requrement is not really up to EC. Had EASA thought was merited, they would have mandated it but they did not. The L2 had of course managed to operate for the best part of 20 years without it anyway.
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