CH-149 helicopter fleet restricted to essential search-and-rescue as fault is probed
For the third time this year, the Canadian military is grounding its CH-149 Cormorant (Agusta Westland EH101) fleet, except to conduct essential search-and-rescue missions, after cracks were discovered in a tail-rotor component.
Canadian air force crews in Gander, Newfoundland, discovered the cracks after a Cormorant returned from a flight. A pre-flight inspection had not detected the problem. The helicopter was used in a mission that rescued four fishermen last month, but air force officials say the cracks are unlikely to have affected the mission.
Agusta Westland's Team Canada office in Ottawa received the cracked tail-rotor part on 19 October, but was still waiting for the air force to provide flight data, says chief test pilot Jerry Tracy. The tail rotor cracks surfaced on a doubler plate, not the composite material critical for airframe integrity.
The 15 Cormorants in the Canadian fleet, bought for C$790 million ($628 million) in 1998 to replace ageing Boeing CH-113 Labradors, are stationed across the country and used mainly for maritime search-and-rescue. The air force decided to place restrictions on the Cormorants a week after the cracks were discovered.
The air force says the restrictions are a precaution and the safety of those who continue to fly them is not being compromised. It does not know how long the restrictions will apply.
The cracks were found in a component that keeps the helicopters stable in flight. It is the third time recently that the helicopters have been restricted to essential missions because of problems. Canada gave its Cormorants the all-clear last April after a UK Royal Navy EH101 crashed because of a tail rotor fault. In February, Cormorant training flights were suspended after the discovery of two fuel leaks on an engine main supply line within a six-month period.
Meanwhile, AgustaWestland will learn on 26 October whether a federal court will allow its appeal against Canada's selection of the Sikorsky S-92 for the Maritime Helicopter Programme to proceed. Canada has withheld the contract award to Sikorsky pending the court ruling.
BRIAN DUNN / MONTREAL & STEPHEN TRIMBLE / WASHINGTON DC
Source: Flight International
