Aircraft
Certification Service Washington, DC U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration
AIR-21-03
January 28, 2021
This is information only. Recommendations
aren’t mandatory.
Introduction
This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) alerts owners
and operators of Robinson Helicopter Company (Robinson) Model R44 and
R44 II helicopters with Automatic Direction Finding (ADF) equipment
installed and police-version helicopters, for the potential of smoke
and fire from the Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) Direct Current
(DC) Line Filter, Part Number AK-950-FTR, manufactured by Ameri-King
Corporation.
At this time, the airworthiness concern is not an unsafe condition that
would warrant airworthiness directive (AD) action under Title 14 of the
Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 39.
Background
In May 2020, an operator of a Robinson R44 made an emergency landing to
extinguish smoke and fire originating from the engine compartment fire
protection zone. Further investigation discovered that an RFI DC line
filter, Ameri-King AK-950-FTR, had failed and caught fire in the engine
compartment fire protection zone. This Ameri-King RFI DC line filter is
listed as an unapproved part in FAA Unapproved Parts Notification No.
2016-2013NM460018, dated March 1, 2016. This RFI DC line filter is
installed on some Model R44 and R44 II helicopters equipped with an ADF
receiver and some Model R44 and R44 II police-version helicopters to
filter DC power ripples from the alternator.
Robinson issued Service Bulletin SB-105, dated August 21, 2020, which
specifies replacing the affected part with an equivalent FAA-approved
part from a different manufacturer.
Recommendations
We recommend that owners/operators of Robinson Model R44 and R44 II
helicopters comply with R44 Service Bulletin SB-105, dated August 21,
2020.
For Further Information Contact
Thanh Tran, Aerospace Engineer, 3960 Paramount Blvd , Lakewood, CA
90712, United States; phone: (562) 627-5304; fax: (562) 627-5210;
e-mail: thanh.b.tran@faa.gov.
For Related Service Information Contact
Robinson Helicopter Company, 2901 Airport Drive, Torrance, CA 90505;
telephone 310-539-0508; fax 310-539-5198; or at
https://www.robinsonheli.com.