FAA Tells Helicopter Owners: Check Your Blades or Else!
Published Date: 4/7/2025
Proposed Rule
Summary
If you fly Airbus Helicopters Model SA341G or SA342J, listen up! The FAA wants you to regularly check your main rotor blades for damage and fix or replace them if needed. You can’t install certain blades unless they meet safety rules, and these steps help keep everyone flying safe without breaking the bank.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 3 costs, 0 mixed.
Repair or replacement required when damage found
If inspection finds damage to those part-numbered MRBs on Airbus Helicopters Model SA341G or SA342J, you must repair or replace the main rotor blade per the AD. The repair-or-replace requirement follows the criteria and instructions contained in the incorporated EASA AD.
Mandatory recurring blade inspections
If you operate an Airbus Helicopters Model SA341G or SA342J, the FAA would require you to perform repetitive tap inspections of certain main rotor blades (MRB) that have stainless-steel leading edge protection. The rule applies to those part-numbered MRBs identified in the referenced EASA airworthiness directive and would require inspecting them on a recurring basis and following the AD's inspection instructions.
Installation of certain blades prohibited unless compliant
The proposed AD prohibits installing the specified part-numbered main rotor blades on Airbus Helicopters Model SA341G and SA342J unless the blades meet the AD's requirements. That means you cannot fit those MRBs unless they satisfy the conditions and procedures in the incorporated EASA AD.
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