I watched as CHCs S92 strolled back into town yesterday under its own steam. Its been out in the bush for 9 days and certainly looked like it too.
Talking to the guys, they carried out various ground runs and post flight runs and failed to get a chip or temperature light at any stage as well as having clean mag plugs. The tranny is still coming out though and I am sure Sikorsky are keen to get inside it to look around.

I gather the GOM S-92 boys have been trying to dip their feet in the water......or have they got a new approach procedure??? :E

Here we go again..............


Sounds like another good rumour brewing in the pipeline.
Cant wait to hear the explanation here. Certainly havent seen or heard a release from Sikorsky yet.

If their was a accident you could expect at AOM (as per the Korean S92)...
If a major airworthiness fault an ASB (like the recent one on the C++ stick STC)...
If an operational issue near-miss you are not likely to here anything from Sikorsky.
There are about a dozen in the GOM - most with PHI who are not very open on incidents.

Are Shell S92's still grounded in Brunei?

No they are back working...minor cock up with the spline inspection.

Thank you DECUFAULT.
Without trawling through all previous threads do we know the cause for the two incidents.
212 Man maybe will answer.

What was the "minor" cock-up ? Having to put the machine down asap doesn't come across as minor. Is the spline inspection not just a case of remove pump, remove old spline, fit new one, re-fit pump ? Not a lot to cock-up.

NST

In one case (in May) not so much an error with actual maintenance but an an omission of not planning a post-installation inspection - according to the grapevine. The earlier one resulted in an SB on dipstick length (steady now...).

Any more on the most recent GOM drama?

Zalt is correct ,yes missed the inspection, minor cock up...! The first case Sikorsky have not come up with anything, dip stick length...! A new cheif engineeer is in place now...!

So what was the post Installation inspection that was missed ?

NST

The protective splines between the hydraulic pump and its drive shaft are inspected x-hours after installation to weed-out infantile failures following the near ditching in Norway in May(?) 2005.

1. I wonder what the Shell safety case said.
2. New Chief Engineer = blame culture? {EDIT - Answer confirmed as NO below by 212Man}
3. Have they moved any of their consultants over the border from Miri to where the need now seems to be?
4. At safety conferences will Shell be showing this aircraft in place of that tail rotorless 332 being hauled out of the water?

I hesitate to say anything, but to stop the crass and wholly innacurate comments now starting, I will say that the change of Chief Engineer is in no way shape or form related to anything other than pre-planned career progression, and was a direct job swap with SAI. Any other suggestions are total crap!:ugh:

DECUFAULT - thanks for your helpful comments. Actually, it's not the dipstick length that was identified as a problem - it was the standpipe the dipstick is fitted within. As a result of poor quality control by the manufacturer, a batch of pipes found their way into the system (i.e. were fitted to MGBs) that were an inch too long. They also appeared in the Blackhawk inventories too, sharing a common part number. The consequence of this mistake was that in order to achieve a correct oil level indication, the MGB was overfilled. This in itself was not the initiator of the event (which is still unclear) but certainly didn't help matters.

ZALT,
I don't know - will you be at the SAI Seminar next month? If so you'll find out. You'll be able to identify me readily, so say hello and I'll buy you a beer and maybe correct some of the misconceptions you seem to have developed.

Any news on the GOM S92 that apprently got wet?

Whose the operator?

Or is this total bull****?

Pumaboy

There is currently only one S-92 operator in the GOM (with another about to start)

No aircraft got wet.

Pumaboy,
DCVC (a 225 pilot I assume?) said implying it was a close call. There is a reasonable suggestion in the industry something happened, but I'm not sure we'll ever hear the details on here.

Someone will spill the beans, 212man nice to see you made it out of the car, after the fast drive to super save...!

Yes the new cheif engineer has been on the cards a long time, before any of the problems, just hope this one leaves his computer..

Your post #1160 seem to suggest otherwise...


Maybe time for a new source of info;) from across the border

212man

I am grateful for your clarification that the impression (given by another poster) on the reason for the change in Chief Engineer was wrong

I wish the previous very capable Chief Engineer my best wishes in his new endeavours.

I'm sure the incident will be discussed by SAI at their own conference. I look forward to seeing the same at more public events too.

Who said he is across the border...only when he needs more beer..! He is very close to 212 man