AD NUMBER: 2008-05-15
MANUFACTURER: Eurocopter France
SUBJECT: Airworthiness Directive 2008-05-15
SUMMARY: We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Eurocopter France Model EC130 B4 helicopters. This AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) originated by an aviation authority of another country to identify and correct an unsafe condition on an aviation product. The European Safety Agency (EASA), the Technical Agent for France,with which we have a bilateral agreement, states in the MCAI: This Airworthiness Directive (AD)is issued following the discovery of several cases of loosened rivets in the tube-to-flange attachment of the tail rotor drive center section shaft. In one case, this loosening of rivets was associated with a crack in the tube which started from a loosened-rivet hole. These occurrences can lead to failure of the tail rotor drive center section shaft. We are issuing this AD to correct the unsafe condition caused by cracks and loosened rivets in the tube-to-flange attachment of the tailrotor and the unsafe condition caused by the out-of-perpendicularity of the No. 1 bearing.

FMI: www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/airworthiness_directives/