Eurocopter Statement reported on Reuters and also BBC R4 News
People .... I am brand new here but for your information this is a new Reuters report timed 23.54 GMT Monday 16 Dec but it was also on BBC Radio 4 midnight news tonight...
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/12/16/uk-britain-helicopters-idUKBRE9BF1HW20131216
At present I am unable to find the link to the Eurocopter statement directly but I am sure most of you people will do so in short order. However to quote directly from the Reuters link above:
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(Reuters) - Eurocopter issued a safety alert to operators of its EC135 helicopters on Monday after aircraft from the same fleet as one that crashed into a Scottish pub last month killing 10 people and some in Europe were found with a fuel gauge defect.
UK-based air services company Bond Aviation grounded its fleet of 38 EC135s on December 11, after an air ambulance, one of its 22 aircraft leased in Britain, was found to have a fuel indicator problem. Tests found others also had the same fault.
A spokesman for Eurocopter, a unit of European aerospace and defence company EADS, said tests by Bond and two other EC135 operators in Europe found possible similar supply-tank fuel gauging errors that overestimated the fuel on board.
"The first analysis shows that the indication of the fuel quantity in the supply tanks could be overestimated," the company said in a statement.
"All crews should be aware that in the worst case a red warning "Low Fuel" could appear without any amber FUEL Caution before."
Eurocopter said it was issuing a safety notice to remind all EC135 operators to follow the safety procedures already in place and outlined in the flight manual, regardless of the aircraft's fuel quantity indication.
The company said it would "update its Safety Information Notice as needed" with investigations continuing.
The discovery of the fault in Bond's fleet came 12 days after one of its EC135s leased to the police crashed into the Clutha pub in Glasgow killing three crew and 7 others.
The helicopter was only minutes away from returning to its base when it dropped vertically on to the roof of the pub.
A preliminary report from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) stated last week that initial checks found no engine or gearbox problems and fuel on board. Investigations are continuing.
Bond Aviation said in a statement on Monday that the results of the tests on the rest of its helicopters were validated by Eurocopter, and appropriate repairs were made before returning the aircraft to service.
No one at Bond was immediately available to comment on how many of its aircraft were found to have the fault.
"We also took the decision to increase safety barriers by mandating that all our EC135s should maintain a minimum of 90kg of fuel onboard at all times," Bond Aviation added.
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Regards
Chip