# SAIB SW-04-92: - Type: Special airworthiness information bulletin (advisory, not mandatory) - Status: Current - Revision: 0 - Issued: September 30, 2004 - Products: Bell Helicopter Textron 206A, 206B, 206L, 206L-1, 206L-3, 206L-4 and 407 - Product type: Aircraft, Rotorcraft - PDF: https://openairdocs.org/files/sha256/62/48/6248fba319b058ccfa48337aafb21c7015eeaffdc32dc2469227a69370404fcd - FAA DRS: https://drs.faa.gov/browse/excelExternalWindow/1D9D7BAB482FF2988625721F0052EBBD.0001 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/saib/SW-04-92 ## Text **SPECIAL** **AIRWORTHINESS** **INFORMATION** **BULLETIN** Aircraft Certification Service Washington, DC U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration SW-04-92 September 30, 2004 www.faa.gov/certification/aircraft This is information only. Recommendations aren’t mandatory. Introduction This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin alerts you, owners and operators of certain Bell Helicopter Textron rotorcraft models (listed below) with Outerlink Corporation CP-2 Satcom System installed when the CP-2 receive antenna is installed in accordance with Outerlink Corporation drawing no. N000-1633, or similar design, of possible antenna mount failure. Bell Helicopter Textron 206A installed per STC SR00120BO 206B installed per STC SR00120BO 206L installed per STC SR00120BO 206L-1 installed per STC SR00120BO 206L-3 installed per STC SR00120BO 206L-4 installed per STC SR00120BO 407 installed per FAA Field Approval Background During a preflight inspection, the pilot of a Bell 206 discovered that the mounting bracket for the CP 2 Satcom receive antenna had separated from the helicopter due to vibration fatigue. The antenna mount is typically fabricated by the installing agency from 2024-T3 0.040" thick sheet aluminum. It is installed on the fin cap of the vertical fin using eight blind fasteners. The antenna coax was torn from the antenna upon separation of the antenna from the tail. Fortunately, the antenna mount didn’t make contact with the tail rotor. Approximately 3000 flight hours had accumulated on the helicopter since the CP-2 system was installed. Recommendations We highly recommend that you use a 10x magnifying glass and immediately inspect the CP-2 receive antenna mounting bracket for signs of fatigue cracking in the area along and directly above the rivet line where the bracket mounts to the vertical tail fin cap. You should repeat inspections every 25-50 flight hours or until the bracket is permanently removed from the rotorcraft. The STC holder is currently investigating other alternatives for mounting the CP-2 Satcom antenna. 2 We will continue monitoring this safety issue and may take further action such as issuing an AD in the future. For Further Information Contact Richard Spencer, Aerospace Engineer, ANE-150, Boston Aircraft Certification Office: phone: (781) 238-7184: email: richard.spencer@faa.gov ## Registered aircraft it may concern (OpenAirDocs) Registry models matched by make and model, the same way as ADs, most registered aircraft first. - [Bell 206B](https://openairdocs.org/model/bell-206b): 791 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Bell Helicopter Textron Canada 407](https://openairdocs.org/model/bell-helicopter-textron-canada-407): 418 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Bell 407](https://openairdocs.org/model/bell-407): 371 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Bell Textron Canada 407](https://openairdocs.org/model/bell-textron-canada-407): 196 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Bell 206L-3](https://openairdocs.org/model/bell-206l-3): 159 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Bell Helicopter Textron 206L-1](https://openairdocs.org/model/bell-helicopter-textron-206l-1): 149 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Bell 206-L4](https://openairdocs.org/model/bell-206-l4): 122 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Bell Helicopter Textron Canada 206L-4](https://openairdocs.org/model/bell-helicopter-textron-canada-206l-4): 103 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Bell Helicopter Textron 206B](https://openairdocs.org/model/bell-helicopter-textron-206b): 29 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Bell 206A](https://openairdocs.org/model/bell-206a): 23 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Bell Helicopter Textron Canada 206B](https://openairdocs.org/model/bell-helicopter-textron-canada-206b): 10 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Bell 206L](https://openairdocs.org/model/bell-206l): 6 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Bell Helicopter Textron Canada 206L-3](https://openairdocs.org/model/bell-helicopter-textron-canada-206l-3): 4 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Bell 206B II](https://openairdocs.org/model/bell-206b-ii): 3 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Agusta 206A](https://openairdocs.org/model/agusta-206a): 0 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Agusta AGUSTA-BELL 206B](https://openairdocs.org/model/agusta-agusta-bell-206b): 0 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Agusta Bell AB 206A](https://openairdocs.org/model/agusta-bell-ab-206a): 0 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Bell Helicopter Textron 206L-4](https://openairdocs.org/model/bell-helicopter-textron-206l-4): 0 registered aircraft (airframe model) --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.