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PAMA/SAE Institute Calls for Subject Matter Experts: Composites, Rotorcraft, Avionics

Everything is looking up in the world of PAMA/SAE Certifications these days. Our first certification, the AMS/AME, has over 125 Honored Colleagues in its ranks and we have been working very hard to establish a significant customer that will tip the scales for a number of organizations evaluating our program. Look for a major announcement within the next month or so. Please visit us online for information on the PAMA/SAE Institute Aviation Maintenance and Production Certification Program.

In the meantime, we have been consumed with filling out our portfolio of certifications in concert with the Professional Certification plan we laid out some two years ago. We have completed the program design for a three-tier Composite/Bonded Structures Technician program in concert with the members of the SAE Commercial Aircraft Composite Repair Committee (CACRC). Sometime this fall we hope to begin formalizing that program with a Job Task Analysis and Test Blueprints. To execute those projects, we need Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to volunteer their time.

If you are interested in participating as a Composites SME, please send your resume to Laura Blanchard, our Certification Coordinator . We'll be distributing more info on this opportunity shortly.

Also, we just announced last Friday the formation of a joint Military/Industry Master Rotorcraft Technician Stakeholders gathering during the last week of October. At this senior stakeholders meeting we will be determing the depth and breadth of the industry's desire for such credentialing - or if it even exists on a broad scale. Our sense is that it does as the Army wants raise the bar for its civil servants and to provide its rotorcraft technicians with transportable credentials when they separate from the service - something most other separating servicemembers have when they enter the civilian workforce. Industry has indicated a passion for growing their rotorcraft technican workforce and we believe our blueprint for a series of increasingly skilled certifications is the ticket to a long term plan. Even though we are not as far along as we are with Composites, we are starting to solicit Rotorcraft SME's also.

If you are interested in participating as a Rotorcraft SME, please send your resume to Laura Blanchard, our Certification Coordinator. We'll also be distributing more info on this opportunity shortly, too.

United Technologies tests world's fastest helicopter

BOSTON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Diversified U.S. manufacturer United Technologies Corp, the world's second-largest helicopter maker, conducted the first test flight on Wednesday of what it called the world's fastest helicopter.

The prototype X2 aircraft has an estimated cruising speed of 250 knots, or 288 miles per hour (464 kmph), and has been in development since June 2005, United Tech's Sikorsky unit said.

The fastest helicopters on the market today top out at about 180 knots, or 207 miles per hour (333 kmph), according to Sikorsky officials. Textron Inc's V-22 Osprey tilt- rotor aircraft, which takes off and lands like a helicopter but flies like an airplane, cruises at about 275 knots, or 316 miles per hour (509 kmph).

PAMA/SAE Institute is Seeking Subject Matter Experts for Composite Repair Certification Efforts

Following successful meetings in Amsterdam and Wichita last year, the SAE International Standards Commercial Aircraft Composite Repair Committee (CACRC) and PAMA/SAE Institute have agreed to take the next step toward certification development. That step is a Program Design Workshop whereby industry stakeholders gather to develop and organize a series of certification tracks around specific bodies of knowledge.

PAMA/SAE Institute has reviewed the four CACRC-developed standards and has developed a “strawman” composite track matrix draft from which to begin our discussions. This matrix draft is not intended to be a recommended program, but rather a point from which to begin our discussions. Download composite_track_matrix_draft_022108.doc

The program development process will take place with a series of two-hour Webex telecons during the last two weeks of March and the first two weeks of April and will include two to four Webex telecons, depending on what the team feels is necessary. Following these Webex telecons, there will be a facilitated one-day live Workshop during the next CACRC meeting on Tuesday, April 15, 2008, in Athens, Greece.

Maintenance/Management Blamed by NTSB in R-44 Fatal Accident

The National Transportation Safety Board released the Probable Cause of this 2-fatal injury Robinson R-44 accident yesterday. The report highlights major lapses in maintenance oversight, failure to follow procedures, distraction, and other transgressions long identified as impediments to good maintenance.
In fact, this accident is a veritable poster child for the FAA's "Dirty Dozen" most common maintenance-related causes of errors listed in FAA Advisory Circular AC 120-72. Your comments on this accident are welcome and solicited, as are your perceptions on whether this kind of accident is highly unusual or representative of how things really are out there on the hangar floor.

NTSB Identification: DEN07FA079.
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Tuesday, March 27, 2007 in Ponte Vedra Bch, FL
Probable Cause Approval Date: 1/31/2008
Aircraft: Robinson R44 II, registration: N744SH
Injuries: 2 Fatal.

The local instructional flight was scheduled for a east departure from the airport and a flight south along the coastline. Several witnesses observed the helicopter approximately 200-500 feet above ground level (agl) in cruise flight along the coastline on a south heading. One witness, a former pilot and mechanic, reported he observed the helicopter in straight and level flight, then heard a change in "rotor noise, followed by a bang/pop/twang sound." The helicopter then "snap-rolled" to the left and descended into the terrain in a nose low attitude.

Examination of the helicopter's flight control system revealed that the right forward servo to swashplate push-pull tube joint was disconnected and the attach hardware (bolt, lock nut, two washers, pal nut) was missing. The left forward servo to swashplate push-pull joint was connected; however, the nut was found partially engaged on the bolt threads, and the torque was "finger tight"; no pal nut was noted. Material analysis of the components revealed that only one of the two nuts for the left and right connections were installed, and then only finger tight. The nut on right servo connection rotated off during flight which allowed the bolt to extract itself and disconnect the servo from the push-pull tube.

FAA mandates continued Robinson rotor blade inspections

Owners and operators of more than 2,300 US-registered Robinson R22- and R44-model helicopters must continue inspecting the outboard sections of the helicopter's metal main rotor skins for signs of debonding before each flight, a requirement that also applies to new factory models with modified blades.

The checks are part of an airworthiness directive (AD) issued by the US Federal Aviation Administration on 3 January, prompted by 11 reports of blade debonding, some of which occurred in flight and caused the pilot "to feel excessive vibrations", according to the FAA.

EASA Hosts Rotorcraft Safety Conference

Helicopter safety is a priority for the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). More than 100 representatives from operators, industry and regulatory authorities from Europe and North America have registered at the first Rotorcraft Workshop organized by the Agency, scheduled for December 5-6 in Cologne.

“The Agency encourages open and constructive dialogue with our stakeholders, clients, and partners. Together we can achieve our common goal of a safer rotorcraft community," says Patrick Goudou, Executive Director of the Agency.

“We are delighted with the response to this workshop. I am convinced that we will draw important conclusions from this exchange with the rotorcraft world”, adds Norbert Lohl, EASA’s Certification Director.

The conference gives an overview of current developments in the fields of rulemaking and product safety, addresses different aspects of the certification process and informs about flight standards, standardization inspections, design organization approvals, the Agency’s processes and the “Helicopter Safety Initiative”.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) was set up by the EU in 2003 to promote the highest common standards of safety and environmental protection in civil aviation. Based in Cologne, the Agency currently employs some 330 experts and administrators from all over Europe.

FMI: www.easa.int

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