Aircraft
Certification Service Washington, DC U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration
2022-21
November 21, 2022
This is information only. Recommendations
aren’t mandatory.
Introduction
This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) alerts owners,
operators, air agencies, suppliers, distributors, and certificated
repairs facilities of Robinson Helicopter Company (RHC) Model R44 and
R44 II helicopters of under-inflated pop-out floats due to improper
packing in the event of a water landing.
At this time, the airworthiness concern is not considered an unsafe
condition that would warrant airworthiness directive (AD) action under
Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 39.
Background
The FAA received a report from an operator stating that while
performing a 3-year pop-out float inflation test, the left pop-out
float under-inflated while the right pop-out float had abnormally high
pressure. A pressure relief valve is installed to protect the pop-out
floats during an overpressure event. The under-inflated float was due
to a kinked hose in the D674-2 pop-out float inflation hose assembly,
which resulted in the misalignment of the connector and the hose at the
bottom of the landing gear strut. This condition, could possibly result
in loss of buoyancy on one side, which may result in the helicopter
capsizing.
Recommendations
The FAA recommends that owners, operators, air agencies, suppliers,
distributors, and maintenance technicians ensure hose alignment prior
to deflating and packing the floats. RHC has updated the Pop -out Float
Installation procedure in the Robinson Model R44 Maintenance Manual to
include instructions to perform this alignment by minimizing the
preload on the hose.
For Further Information Contact
David Kim, Aerospace Engineer, Los Angeles ACO, 3960 Paramount Blvd,
Lakewood, CA 90712, United States; phone: (562) 627-5274; fax: (562)
627-5210; e-mail: david.kim@faa.gov.
For Related Service Information Contact
Robinson Helicopter Company, Technical Support Department, 2901 Airport
Drive, Torrance, CA 90505; telephone (310) 539-0508; fax (310)
539-5198; email ts1@robinsonheli.com; or at robinsonheli.com.