PPRuNe Forums - Hueys Grounded?

Both Cape (non fire-fighting) Hueys were grounded for a few days, but the Sport appealed the dicision and their Huey has been ungrounded since 28 Dec at 1600.

31 December 2007: Cape Times

Quote:

Grounded Huey 'not authorised' for tourism

Staff Writer

ONE of the former US helicopter gunships from the Vietnam War now being used for tourism in Cape Town and grounded by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) last week, may have been carrying passengers illegally, a spokesperson for the regulatory body has said.

The two former military helicopters are owned by two Cape Town adventure companies.

Last week, Mike Davis of Shearwater Cape Town, which offers Huey helicopter flights, told the Cape Times he had received a letter from the CAA at 5pm on the Friday before saying the company's Huey had been "grounded until further notice".

Davis said the CAA had given "no explanation" for the decision.

Sport Aviation, whose Huey was also grounded, declined to comment on the situation.

CAA spokesperson Phindile Gwebu said she didn't have all the information regarding the grounding at her disposal because the inspector who ordered it was not available.

She confirmed, however, that one of the Hueys, a ZURXX model, had been grounded on December 21.

"The aircraft was grounded because it was not complying with its manual of operation," said Gwebu.

"It was not authorised to do certain things. The helicopter has been (performing) activities like carrying passengers for things like sight-seeing and it was not authorised to do so."

This helicopter was supposed to be used for operations like transporting equipment, Gwebu said.

She could not provide information about the other helicopter.

The two Hueys are not the first to be grounded by the CAA.

In 2003, the CAA grounded a helicopter owned by the Huey Extreme Club after deeming it not airworthy. The company took the CAA to court and the order was set aside.

In 2004, a second grounding order was issued.

The V&A Waterfront took club owner Gary van der Merwe to court, accusing him of putting it "at serious risk" whenever the Huey flew to and from its base there. The case ended up in the Constitutional Court, which upheld the Waterfront's decision to ban Van der Merwe's Huey from the area.