Stress fracture

Investigators had noted the helicopter had been used for spraying operations at high power settings which were likely above the takeoff limit at times. As a result, the helicopter’s dynamic components experienced higher stresses than normal. Also, the frequent use of the flick-turns while operating at heavy weights and a steep dive back towards the spray area with an estimated 2G pull-out is believed to have accelerated the fatigue failure.

Robinson later stated the R44 was not designed for agricultural flying. The manufacturer was not required to consider agricultural flying when calculating the service life of the rotor blades. Had the increased stresses and cycles involved with agricultural flying been allowed for during certification, a lower service life may have been applied to critical dynamic components.

After the incident, Robinson recalculated the fatigue life of R44 main rotor blades used in agricultural operations, using an increased stop-start cycle rate of 10 per hour. However, the manufacturer determined the safe life of 2,200 hours would not need to be reduced because an adequate safety margin remained. In contrast, the engine manufacturer reduced the time between overhauls from 2,200 to 1,500 hours when used in agricultural flying.

In conclusion, investigators suggested there may be a culture in New Zealand of some pilots operating their aircraft outside the manufacturer’s published and ‘never exceed’ limitations. Should this situation exist, there is a possibility such a culture has become normalised.

Further, Robinson has recommended in a safety bulletin that operators engaged in agricultural flying, cattle mustering, or operations with more than four rotor full stops per flight hour should consult the manufacturer, and give full details of all operations, for a possible component life-limit revision for their operations.

Drone maker DJI launches Government Edition

The world’s largest maker of light civilian drones, DJI, recently unveiled a special Government Edition designed to safeguard sensitive data. The new drones have architecture that ensures that drone data – including photos and videos captured during flight – never leave the drone and therefore can never be shared with unauthorised parties, including DJI. By incorporating these assurances into its architecture, the Government Edition solution meets the rigorous data security expectations of government agencies, and provides them the safety, reliability, and ease of operation that DJI’s products are respected for by commercial drone pilots around the world. DJI’s release of Government Edition came a week after the company issued a fiery rebuttal to fresh charges emanating from Capitol Hill that interception of its drones’ data could be misused by foreign governments among others.

“This is our most secure drone system and is designed to meet the U.S. government’s rigorous security expectations,” a spokesperson said.

Airbus Helicopters protype H145D3 starting
high altitude trials in Chile

Testing is now starting in the Andes Mountains, following high altitude flights in the French Pyrenees. H145D3 was displayed at the Heli-Expo 2019 in Atlanta. EASA certification is estimated to be completed by early 2020. The new model features a new five-blade, foldable, and bearingless main rotor system and two Safran Arriel 2E engines. The improvements will give the H145 an increased useful load of 330 pounds (140kg) and a maximum takeoff weight of 8,377 pounds. (3,807kg).

The new rotor system provides a useful load equivalent to the H145’s empty weight, reduces maintenance requirements, improves reliability, and shrinks overall rotor disk diameter, enabling the aircraft to operate in more confined areas. The new foldable main blade system on the D3 takes only 10 minutes to stow/deploy. All blades fold backward within the span of the horizontal stabilizer by simply removing one bolt from each blade.

NUAIR validates parachute for Flytrex’s
package delivery drones

Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research announced it has validated the parachute on the package delivery drones of Israel-based drone company Flytrex as compliant with industry standards, after completing extensive testing at the New York UAS Test Site in Rome, New York. For NUAIR, this is the second parachute standard validation it has performed.