SAIB SW-05-24

SPECIAL

AIRWORTHINESS

INFORMATION

BULLETIN

Aircraft Certification Service Washington, DC

U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration

SW-05-24 December 22, 2004 www.faa.gov/certification/aircraft This is information only. Recommendations aren’t mandatory.

Introduction

This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) alerts you, owners and operators of Bell Helicopter Textron Canada 206A, 206B, 206L, 206L-1, 206L-3 and 206L- 4 model helicopters with landing gear installations using crosstube assemblies that were removed from service by FAA Airworthiness Directive (AD) 95-11-14, effective June 30, 1995.

Background

We issued AD 95-11-14 which mandated removal of crosstube assemblies with the following part numbers:

Bell Helicopter Textron Inc.

Part Numbers Airborne Supply Inc.

Part Numbers 206-050-107-ALL AB206-050-107-ALL 206-050-119-ALL AB206-050-119-ALL 206-050-134-ALL AB206-053-109-ALL 206-050-157-ALL 206-050-169-ALL 206-053-109-ALL 206-053-119-ALL 206-053-129-ALL

The AD required removal of these unairworthy crosstube assemblies within 90 calendar days from the effective date of the AD and be replaced with airworthy crosstube assemblies.

We have reviewed Service Difficulty Reports and have found US registered helicopters that still have these affected crosstube assemblies installed on the helicopter.

There may be a misunderstanding among the owners and operators due to Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA) publishing a subsequent AD that stated their AD superseded FAA AD 95-11-14.

Recommendations

We recommend that you verify that the applicable helicopters are in compliance with AD 95-11-14. If your helicopter is not in compliance, you should take immediate action to correct this situation.

This SAIB reminds you that the TCCA AD only applies to the applicable Canadian registered helicopters and AD 95-11-14 is currently in effect and applies to all applicable US registered helicopters.

For Further Information Contact

Sharon Miles, Aerospace Engineer, FAA Rotorcraft Directorate, ASW-111 Rotorcraft Standards Staff, Fort Worth, TX 76193-0111;

phone: (817) 222-5122; fax: (817) 222-5961;

email: sharon.y.miles@faa.gov