News Report from Canada.com
HALIFAX (CP) - The Canadian investigator of a military helicopter crash that killed two pilots is warning the international aviation authority to toughen inspections of the aircraft before another fatal accident occurs.
Maj. Jim Armour said in an interview Tuesday that he's asked the Federal Aviation Administration to tell operators of the Bell 412 to frequently check the rear rotor blades for tiny nicks, using bright lights and magnifying lens.
Otherwise, he said, "the possibility of having a failure of this nature still exists" on one of the thousands of military or civilian versions of the aircraft flying in locations around the world.
The Canadian Forces adopted the inspection practices recommended by Armour weeks after a Griffon, the military version of the Bell 412, crashed on July 18, 2002, in northern Labrador.
Members of the military's flight safety directorate identified an almost invisible nick in the aircraft's rear rotor blade - which stabilize the helicopters - as the cause.
The nick led to metal fatigue and the blade broke into three pieces during a routine search-and-rescue mission. The helicopter plunged to the wooded ground, causing the death of two pilots and injuring two crew members.
Since then, all of the blades of the 99 aircraft in the Canadian military's Griffon fleet have been sent for X-ray examinations and are given inspections every 12½-hours.
Armour said his draft report is circulating in the aviation community for comment and is "what I consider to be my final perspective on the accident."
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