Summary
This document proposes superseding an existing airworthiness directive (AD) for Bell Helicopter Textron Canada (BHTC) helicopters. That AD currently requires certain checks and inspections of the tail rotor blades. If a crack is found, the existing AD requires replacing the tail rotor blade (blade) with an airworthy blade before further flight. This action would require the same checks and inspections until they are required to be replaced and would remove certain serial numbered and specifically coded tail rotor blades from the applicability of the AD. This proposal is prompted by the approved rework of certain tail rotor blades and two newly redesigned tail rotor blades, which, if installed, constitutes terminating action for the inspection requirements. The actions specified by the proposed AD are intended to detect a crack in a blade, and to prevent loss of a blade and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.