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Canada restricts Cormorant helicopter fleet after crash in Britain
Hope we kept the bills...Canadaâs newly purchased Cormorant search-and-rescue helicopters have been developing cracks in their tail rotor hubs, the air force admitted Thursday. What to you expect for $800 mil That combined with the crash of a similar aircraft this week in Britain has forced Canadian military officials to restrict the operations of the 15 helicopters for the second time this year. Restrict?...how about stop The Cormorants, which cost taxpayers $798 million, will only be allowed to fly in emergencies until the tail rotors of each of the aircraft can be inspected. Question: when one of these crashes, who rescues it? A Sea-King? Lt.-Col. Charles Cue, commander of 413 Squadron in Greenwood, N.S., said the restrictions come following the crash of a Royal Navy Merlin helicopter on Tuesday. Five people were injured in the crash in Britain. It is believed the cause of the accident involved cracks in the aircraftâs tail rotor. The preliminary finding raised concern among Canadian military officials. "We have had cracking in the tail rotor hub, but we check the hub on a daily basis," Cue said. "If we find a problem, we take the part off and put a new one on. So far, it hasnât been an issue." Say what? If it cracks when in flight? He said the rotors on both the Cormorant and the Merlin are roughly the same. In February, concerns were raised about potential fuel leaks. Two of the choppers - one in Comox, B.C., the other in Gander, Nfld. - developed fuel line leaks near the engines. Mechanics had to develop a rubber sleeve to slip over the lines to redirect the leaks away from the hot motors. The Italian-built helicopters have also had problems with cracking windscreens and console brackets. This is NOT good!! How about going back to the Flintstone Flyer... Despite the growing list of glitches, Cue said the pilots in his squadron have no fear of flying the aircraft. "We are a little frustrated with the teething pains of this machine," he said. "(But) from our perspective, we feel much safer in this machine than the Labrador (helicopter). This machine has all of the automatic safety devices. We are very satisfied with this machine and donât want to go back the other way." A former military pilot said the intense vibration of helicopter engines is notorious for causing cracks in the airframe. "Itâs been said the definition of a helicopter is 50,000 parts flying in close formation," said Col. John Orr, a retired Sea King pilot with over 20 years experience. "Youâre dealing with much more vibration than you would in a fixed-wing aircraft." Even still, Orr said he found it "surprising and disappointing" that faults have already started to develop in the Cormorants, some of which are only a year old. "There have been lots of advances to reduce the amount of vibration and to track it when it occurs," he said. "We donât send aircraft into the air that are not serviceable and Iâm confident our mechanics will get to the bottom of the problem." As a Canadian, itâs very frustrating to see highly motived men and woman having to defend this country with sling-shots and can openers... Posted by: steve d. 2004-04-01 |
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