Service difficulty report · Link · Bell 429

Difficulty date
August 22, 2015
Submitted
April 22, 2016
Operation
General aviation
Make and model
Bell 429
Part
Link
Part number
429012112103
Condition
Broken
Location
T/R Pitch
Part time
200 hours
Stage of operation
CR
How discovered
O
Nature of condition
E
Precautionary procedure
A

As reported to the FAA. Reports are unverified, and codes are left as the FAA publishes them.

What was found

(CAN) DURING FLIGHT THE PILOT NOTED A BUMP AND THEN AN IMMEDIATE VIBRATION. AUTOPILOT WAS TURNED OFF AND THE ACFT WAS SLOWED DOWN BUT THE VIBRATION LEVEL DID NOT CHANGE. AS THE ACFT WAS SETTLING TO THE GROUND TO LAND THE PILOT FELT THE ACFT YAW TO THE RIGHT UNTIL HE HAD NO LEFT PEDAL LEFT. THE ACFT WAS LANDED WITHOUT INCIDENT. UPON SHUTDOWN AND INSPECTION THE PILOT NOTED A BROKEN, 429-012-112-103, TAIL ROTOR PITCH CHANGE LINK. AS A RESULT OF THIS OCCURRENCE THE PILOT LOGGED A TRANSMISSION OVER TORQUE AND A 2 MINUTE OEI EXCEEDANCE. ALL 4 PITCH CHANGE LINKS, ATTACHING HARDWARE AND 1 EACH TAIL ROTOR PITCH HORN NEED TO BE REPLACED.

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