FAA Orders Helicopter Battery Checkups to Avoid Mid-Air Power Naps
Published Date: 5/12/2025
Rule
Summary
If you fly a Leonardo A119 or AW119 MKII helicopter, listen up! The FAA wants you to install a battery discharge detector and update your flight manual to prevent electrical failures that could drain your battery mid-flight. These fixes need to happen soon to keep your helicopter safe and sound without breaking the bank.
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
Helicopter owners must install battery detector
If you operate a Leonardo Model A119 or AW119 MKII helicopter, you must install a battery discharge detector and update the Rotorcraft Flight Manual for your helicopter. The rule comes from an FAA airworthiness directive that incorporates a European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) AD to address starter-generator drive shaft rupture that caused partial battery power loss.
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