Australia’s Tiger attack helicopters ‘unsafe’

The Australian ^ | August 13, 2017 | RORY CALLINAN

[sukhoi-30mki]

The maker of Australia’s problematic Tiger attack helicopters has issued a safety warning describing all versions of the aircraft as being in an “unsafe condition”.

The Airbus bulletin about the choppers which have cost Australia $1.5 billion to buy, was issued after a German operated variant crashed in Africa last month.

Blades falling of the German helicopter mid flight have since been blamed as the possible cause of the crash that saw the aircraft plunge into the desert from a height of about 500m killing the two crew.

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) which operates 22 of the Tigers last week said they had not imposed any restrictions on their fleet after the crash.

But the new bulletin from Airbus released on Friday may raise concerns about continuing to fly the two seater choppers on operations.

The ADF is yet to respond to questions from The Australian asked on Saturday evening about whether any restrictions had come into force since the bulletin was issued.

The bulletin said “despite the missing information and considering a sudden failure, Airbus Helicopters (AH) declares a unsafe condition for all Tiger versions”.

“AH can neither identity the part, the failure of which would lead to the accident, nor the origin of the failure (design, manufacturing, maintenance). “Consequently AH is not in a position to propose a protective measure.”

Australia’s fleet of Tiger helicopters which ran seven years late in reaching final operational capability, have been plagued with problems and are being considered for a mid life upgrade that is estimated to cost between $500 million and $750 million.

Last week Defence had still not responded to a question on notice asked in a May Defence Estimates Hearing about whether the sustainment costs for the Tiger helicopters had blown out f

[sukhoi-30mki]

Australian Tiger Attack Helicopter takes off over an American Medial Blackhawk Helicopter in Exercise Talisman Sabre 2017 near Shoalwater Bay in Queensland. Picture: Supplied

[2ndDivisionVet]

Airbus? I think I see the problem.

[Billthedrill]

Blades falling off the German helicopter mid flight have since been blamed as the possible cause of the crash...

I'm not an aeronautical engineer, but I don't believe they're supposed to do that...

[\/\/ayne]

Why not just take the best helicopters that work and go from there? Is it that hard to figure out?

[smokingfrog]

I can see how that might be a problem.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

Blades falling of the German helicopter mid flight have since been blamed as the possible cause of the crash

10,000 rivets, flying in formation.

[Jeff Chandler]

asked in a May Defence Estimates Hearing about whether the sustainment costs for the Tiger helicopters had blown out f

I'm curious.

[WMarshal]

I guess all that Muslim cultural enrichment is having the unexpected, yet predetermined outcomes. I fully expect to see a barren, treeless Europe populated by inbred, goat molesters with shit on their left hands and a dagger in the other.

[Dapper 26]

That’s why the Hueys in Nam had “Jesus Nuts”.

[buckalfa]

"Airbus? I think I see the problem."

Actually the variants of the Airbus Eurocopter are considered the gold standard in aeromedical the business. My daughter flew in both the Eurocopter and the Bell 407 as a flight nurse. Of course that was pre 2014 when Airbus more completely took control of their chopper business.