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Sep 29, 2008 8:57 am US/Eastern
Airworthiness Questions Around Popular Chopper
(CBS4)
A
CBS4 I-Team investigation has uncovered questions that involve your safety, whether you know it or not. The questions revolve around one of the most popular flying machines on the planet right now and a problem that literally has some of them falling out of the sky.
I-Team Investigator
Stephen Stock dug up the story and a possible solution.
More than 8000 Robinson helicopters, with their smoke-stack looking rotor blade mount, now fill the skies around the world. 40 percent of all Robinson Helicopters fly in the United States. And dozens of Robinsons are owned and operated by South Florida pilots in Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe Counties.
Robinson helicopters serve just about every non-military helicopter function in the air: from ferrying tourists on site seeing ventures, to news and traffic eyes in the sky, to police units hovering above crime scenes.
Robinson owner Luis Folgueira of Kendall said "It's (the Robinson Helicopter brand) become the number one selling helicopter basically in the world."
The most common Robinsons are the four-seat R-44s and the two-seat training machines, the R-22's.
Both types of helicopters cost much less than comparable aircraft. They cost roughly between $200,000 and $400,000. As a comparison a Bell or Skorsky helicopter of similar make and performance can cost $1,500,000 and $2,000,000.
Folgueira says "In general these are excellent aircraft. This is the fourth one I've owned."
Folgueira founded and runs Helicopters over Miami, a private company based at Kendall/Tamiami Airport in south Miami-Dade. The former race car driver now regularly flies tourists and other site seers all over South Florida in a Robinson R-44 RavenII.
Folgueira swears by Robinsons. "It's been a very reliable machine. It's very comfortable," Folgueira said.
To see for ourselves the
CBS4 I-Team paid Helicopters Over Miami the standard rate of $295.00 for a half hour site seeing tour in one of Folgueiro's Robinson helicopters over Miami and Key Biscayne.
In preparation for the flight Folgueira told the I-Team, "I know I feel more than comfortable flying a Robinson anywhere."
But the I-Team learned of a darker side to Robinson Helicopters. It is a dark side that is less widely known to the general public that could put users who don't know about the problem at serious risk.
Coral Gables civil attorney Ervin Gonzalez explains. "This is a public safety issue. Because this is a very preventable problem," Gonzalez said.
As an example Gonzalez points to a case he's involved in. It is a case where a Robinson R-44 literally fell out of the sky over the Dominican Republic killing all four people on board on October 11, 2006.
Both
United States and
Dominican Republic investigators determined the helicopter came apart when the rotor blade fell apart in mid-air. The skin on the blade delaminated or debonded. In layman's terms, the blade came apart in mid-flight.
Ruben Gonzalez's big brother, 31 year-old Delio, died in that crash while on an aerial mission to look for real estate to purchase in the Dominican Republic.
"My brother Delio was joy and happiness personified," Ruben Gonzalez said. "He was able to reach people at a personal level. He got along with anybody and everybody."
The Gonzalez family, represented by Ervin Gonzalez, who is no relation, is now suing Robinson Helicopters. In
the lawsuit the Gonzalez family alleges the company improperly made and tested these rotor blades which fall apart.
"The risk isn't just to people in the helicopter," attorney Ervin Gonzalez told the I-Team. "These helicopters are flying over urban areas, big cities," Ervin Gonzalez said.
FAA and
National Transportation Safety Board records over a six month period in 2006 and 2007, reviewed by the CBS4 I-Team show at least ten instances of rotor blade delamination on Robinson helicopters.
The rotor blade delaminated and came apart in mid-air in at least four fatal accidents around the world including the accident that killed Delio Gonzalez.
"The helicopter blade had an improper adhesive that allowed the skin of the helicopter blade to just come right off," attorney Ervin Gonzalez says.
After the accident which killed Delio Gonzalez, Robinson Helicopters also issued a number of safety alerts sent to
pilots,
mechanics and owners of Robinsons.
So too did the
Dominican and
Australian governments. You can find those advisories also in accompanying links.
Here in the United States, the FAA went even further. The FAA issued a legally binding
"airworthiness" directive which warns pilots look for and correct the problem.
Retired NTSB and FAA investigator Ben Coleman explains the importance of the airworthiness directive. Coleman investigated at least 40 different fatal helicopter accidents, though none involved Robinson helicopters.
"It (the delamination issue) is a serious problem when it happens to you," Coleman told the I-Team. The FAA by issuing this warning, "the air worthiness directive makes it law."
In a hangar in Lakeland, Florida, Coleman showed the I-Team where this problem can occur by pointing to the spot on the blade of a new Robinson R-22. "If you can see the bond line your failure is imminent," Coleman says.
Despite this concern there was no industry recall, there has been no immediate fix to keep rotor blades from delaminating. In fact, except for a simple test and advisories to replace the blades, Robinson still has yet to issue any fix for the delamination problem.
Instead Robinson sent out
this notice telling pilots and mechanics about what seems like a bizarre safety test.
The official Robinson test to see if these blades are bad or going bad simply involves a quarter. The manufacturer says it has to be a quarter made in 1965 or later. The manufacturer then tells pilots and mechanics to tap on the blade using a quarter to see if the blade might be going bad.
The I-Team had both Luis Folgueira and Ben Coleman demonstrate the quarter "tap test" to us on actual Robinson helicopter blades.
"That's outrageous! How can that be the modern test used to see if this type of product defect can be identified," attorney Ervin Gonzalez said of the 'tap test.'
So
CBS4 I-Team investigator
Stephen Stock put the question to former FAA investigator Ben Coleman. "This quarter test it seems silly. Is it really effective?" Stock asked Coleman.
"It's a very, very effective method that is readily available," Coleman replied. "It's easy to do. But it does take a trained ear to know what you're listening for."
Yet, according to these
documents obtained by the I-Team and dated June, 2008, the National Transportation Safety Board raises serious concerns about this test. The document says tap testing "...is not adequate..." And later in the document "...the tap test cannot consistently detect debond in all areas..."
Even so, neither the NTSB nor the FAA has issued any mandatory orders for Robinson Helicopter to change its way of manufacturing or testing the blades.
Ruben Gonzalez said that is the ultimate goal of the lawsuit filed by the Gonzalez family to call attention to this problem to prompt change and ensure another family never has to go through what they've gone through again.
"It's been the most painful experience my family has ever gone through," Ruben Gonzalez said.
The
CBS4 I-Team contacted one of the owners of Robinson Helicopters, Kurt Robinson, who says the company officials don't believe there's anything wrong with their rotor blades. Instead Kurt Robinson said "it's a maintenance issue."
As for the quarter test, Kurt Robinson vigorously defended it saying it was very effective and "we have not found anything better."
The
CBS4 I-Team discovered a
simple fix for this problem made by a Middlefield, Ohio, company called Airwolf Aerospace.
The FAA has approved the fix, classifying it in a
letter dated January 18, 2008, as an AMOC (Alternative Medtod of Compliance for AD (Air Directive) 2007-26-12.
It involves putting a type of tape over the rotor blades, the technique was developed when military helicopters in the first Gulf War started having similar delaminating problems on their rotor blades.
Again the FAA has approved the Airwolf Rotor Blade Protective Tape as an Alternative Method of Compliance for Robinson helicopter rotor blades that show signs of delamination or debonding.
Kurt Robinson of Robinson Helicopter won't endorse nor dismiss this potential fix. He told the
CBS4 I-Team he's concerned that the tape could, itself, pose a safety hazard and says pilots should inspect their blades and get rid of them when they start to show wear. He said placing tape over an eroding or corroding rotor blade merely "covers up the problem" which should be fixed if "it that bad."
Robinson says if there is a problem with corrosion or erosion of blades "the blades should be completely replaced."
Former NTSB and FAA investigator Ben Coleman says he believes the protective tape is effective and will work. He points out that the FAA has approved its use on Robinson Helicopter blades.
Coleman also says that the tape is "only a temporary measure" and that pilots should conduct an examination of the blades "every time they fly." Coleman agrees with Kurt Robinson in that the only way to permanently correct delaminating Robinson rotor blades is to replace the blades all together.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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