Firefighting Helicopter Down west of Edmonton
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Firefighting Helicopter Down west of Edmonton
Several new sources are report the crash of a helicopter fighting the wildfires west of Edmonton near Evansburg. No reports on the crew at this time.
Forestry helicopter fighting wildfire crashes near Evansburg | Edmonton Journal
Forestry helicopter fighting wildfire crashes near Evansburg | Edmonton Journal
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Global News is now reporting that the lone pilot was killed in the crash. TSB on it's way to conduct an investigation.
Pilot killed in helicopter crash while fighting wildfire near Evansburg, Alta.: RCMP | Globalnews.ca
Pilot killed in helicopter crash while fighting wildfire near Evansburg, Alta.: RCMP | Globalnews.ca
From FS Airworthiness: Bell Helicopters has discovered a serious issue with the B212 and B205 TT strap pins, inboard. Four to five days ago, a B212 operating in Canada, had a TT strap pin catastrophic failure that resulted in the blade separating in flight. That pin had only 27hrs on it. Another vendor inspected their pins because of the incident and found them deformed after only 29hrs time in service. Apparently, the part number of these pins have either FWFS or FNFS incorporated. A representative from Bell Helicopters was contacted and said that there should be a message coming out from the FAA and/or Bell very soon regarding the pin failure. According to Bell it is very likely that we will see an Emergency AD issued by the FAA tomorrow. Because of this, it is my opinion that we should stand down our Bell medium fleet until we hear from the manufacture or the FAA regarding the failure of these pins. This is emerging information and new info will be shared as it becomes available.
If I were either a Pilot or Operator of those types of Aircraft....I would not turn a rotor blade except by hand until I knew for sure whether my aircraft had one of the affected parts or not with absolute certainty.
Never mind waiting for the Emergency AD for even a minute.
Slinging a Blade is almost invariably a once in a lifetime event for the occupants.
Never mind waiting for the Emergency AD for even a minute.
Slinging a Blade is almost invariably a once in a lifetime event for the occupants.
Avoid imitations
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Terrible.
As they say, "There ain't no cure for that".
As they say, "There ain't no cure for that".
Here are the actual bulletins hot off the press in brief---see the full attachments for the full ASB:
Bell has determined that some main rotor hub strap pins P/N 204-012-104-005 may have not been manufactured in accordance with the engineering design requirements and may shear as a result of the non-conformance.
Although the investigation remains in progress, this ASB mandates that the suspected strap pins with serial number prefix “FNFS” be immediately removed from service. Applicability of this bulletin to any spare part shall be determined prior to its installation on an affected helicopter.
APPROVAL:
The engineering design aspects of this bulletin are FAA approved for FAA certified helicopters as listed in the applicable Type Certificate Data Sheet. For non FAA certified helicopters, the engineering design aspects of this bulletin are Bell Engineering approved.
Bell has determined that some main rotor hub strap pins P/N 204-012-104-005 may have not been manufactured in accordance with the engineering design requirements and may shear as a result of the non-conformance.
Although the investigation remains in progress, this ASB mandates that the suspected strap pins with serial number prefix “FNFS” be immediately removed from service. Applicability of this bulletin to any spare part shall be determined prior to its installation on an affected helicopter.
APPROVAL:
The engineering design aspects of this bulletin are FAA approved for FAA certified helicopters as listed in the applicable Type Certificate Data Sheet. For non FAA certified helicopters, the engineering design aspects of this bulletin are Bell Engineering approved.
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If I were either a Pilot or Operator of those types of Aircraft....I would not turn a rotor blade except by hand until I knew for sure whether my aircraft had one of the affected parts or not with absolute certainty.
Never mind waiting for the Emergency AD for even a minute.
Slinging a Blade is almost invariably a once in a lifetime event for the occupants.
Never mind waiting for the Emergency AD for even a minute.
Slinging a Blade is almost invariably a once in a lifetime event for the occupants.
https://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/Saf-Sec-Sur...wimn/AD_r.aspx
A sad, most unfortunate accident. We like to think that vendors follow specs. meticulously and that QA catches errors but we know this is not always true. Without jumping to more conclusions it is worth noting that Bell put out their ASBs, Transport Canada got an emergency AD published and the USFS did what it could but nothing from the FAA to alert operators and ground the machines until inventories are checked and records searched to see if more of this batch of pins are in service. Well, with the 4th of July and all, I guess we shouldn't expect anyone at the desk until this morning.
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Quick question from a fixed wing type. Looking at Vertical Magazine it had a picture of what I'm guessing was one of the rotors of this aircraft. Is the pin that they are reference in the AD the large 2in pin in the middle of the blue section?
https://verticalmag.com/news/defecti...icopter-crash/
https://verticalmag.com/news/defecti...icopter-crash/
Last edited by Senior Pilot; 7th Jul 2021 at 03:21. Reason: Add photo
Quick question from a fixed wing type. Looking at Vertical Magazine it had a picture of what I'm guessing was one of the rotors of this aircraft. Is the pin that they are reference in the AD the large 2in pin in the middle of the blue section?
https://verticalmag.com/news/defecti...icopter-crash/
https://verticalmag.com/news/defecti...icopter-crash/
Last edited by gulliBell; 7th Jul 2021 at 17:50.
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Thank you to those who provided an explanation. The explanations cleared up everything and I have no desire to fly in a helicopter I'll stick to my fixed wings