Graeme McDermott has won an appeal in the Queensland Supreme court where he claimed that an R22 accident where he suffered severe burns was caused as a result of the failure of the RHC to provide adequate instructions to LAMES to ensure the continuing airworthiness of R22 helicopters.
http://www.sclqld.org.au/caselaw/QCA/2014/357
The judges stated that "torque stripes were useless as
indicators of bolt movement or slippage.52".
The judges also found that "the Robinson manual was otherwise....inadequate in a number of other important respects concerning the detection of fretting dust,48 cracks in the flexplate,49 and the failure of the bonding on thewashers meant to be bonded to the flexplate."50
This has been a mammoth case costing many millions of $s and fought tooth and nail all the way by RHC. If it had not been for the tenacity and guts, and huge monitary risk made by Graham McDermott (terribly injured in the crash), in fighting this case, the RHC would again be trumpeting their usual "its not our fault" mantra.
Its a great win for LAMES and owners and passengers alike, and will through the hip pocket nerve, force Robinson to fix up what the courts have found is a substandard set of maintenance instructions. It will also open up a can of worms for RHC in that there have been a number of other flexplate failures on R22 and R44 helicopters since McDermotts crash.
In the meantime folks, get out a spanner and make sure those flex bolt nuts are tight. The court and expert evidence stated that that is the only way to know. Forget the fretting dust, the tourque stripes, the visual inspection, THE SPANNER IS THE ONLY WAY!
BP