Mrh-90 Fleet Grounded

In todays Advertiser.
All MRH-90s grounded after catastrophic engine failure in flight north of Edinburgh last month, grounding kept secret till now ( too much egg on face)
Specialists from manufacturer (RR Turbomeca) here to determine cause.

I had been chasing these for pics when they suddenly dissapeared, I thought they must have all gone home.
Rod.

Here's hoping it doesn't turn into another Seasprite saga!

Ouch!

That must make the the Seahawk tender look stronger for the navy!

BC

From the ABC...............

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/19/2903502.htm?section=justin

Defence grounds new chopper fleet

By Sabra Lane

Defence has ordered 40 of the so-called multi-role helicopters at a cost of about $4 billion.

Defence has ordered 40 of the so-called multi-role helicopters at a cost of about $4 billion. (www.navy.gov.au)

* Audio: Defence grounds new chopper fleet (AM)
* Related Story: New Defence choppers arrive in Brisbane
* Related Story: Govt to fast-track buying Navy helicopters

The Federal Government has confirmed its new fleet of Army helicopters has been grounded because of engine problems.

But the decision to ground the MRH90 fleet was kept secret for four weeks, apparently because of continuing embarrassment over the cancellation of the $1 billion Seasprite helicopter project.

The Opposition says it will pursue the issue in Senate estimates hearings in the next two weeks.

Australia has accepted 11 new MRH90 Eurocopters so far. Defence has ordered 40 of the so-called multi-role helicopters at a cost of about $4 billion.

The manufacturer is also bidding to sell Defence another 24 of the machines for the Navy.

But last month one of the choppers experienced what Defence calls a "technical incident". In the aviation industry, though, it is known as catastrophic failure.

The pilot experienced an engine failure but managed to nurse the twin-engine aircraft back to the Edinburgh Air Force Base on Adelaide's outskirts.

Engineers have flown in from Europe but so far have been unable to find the cause of the failure, and as a result Defence has grounded the entire fleet.

The incident happened on April 20 and the news about it and the grounding of the fleet was kept quiet until Defence released a statement on its website last night.

The minister responsible, Greg Combet, was unavailable for interview this morning but his office confirmed the fleet had been grounded.

AM phoned Defence for an interview only to be told it responds to written requests only and it was unlikely anyone would be available for interview this morning.

'Secrecy'

The new acquisitions come after the disastrous Seasprite program commissioned by the previous federal government and cancelled by the current government at a cost of $1 billion.

Opposition spokesman for defence science and personnel, Bob Baldwin, says the issue is not the grounding of the helicopter due to a fault.

"That's to be commended. The issue here is the secrecy that has occurred under this Rudd/Labor Government, where they have hid from the public for 28 days the fact that there has been a problem with this helicopter," Mr Baldwin said.

"Now, Mr Combet has been tagged as Mr Fix It. I'm yet to see one thing that Mr Combet has actually fixed.

"This is the first report of any failure of the engine. There have been issues with the helicopter that have been rectified during the introduction phase and that's normal with new pieces of equipment."

Defence only issued a release about the grounding last night and Mr Baldwin says it is important the warning goes out to all of the helicopter's operators around the world.

"That there is an issue so that all aircraft can be examined to see whether it's an isolated incident or indeed it's spread across the entire fleet," he said.

"We don't know what has occurred there. I can assure you of one thing, that next week in Senate estimates this matter will be pursued.

"It will be pursued because the Government has tried to hide from the public an issue affecting air safety, an issue affecting our Air Force personnel safety and we need answers."

Does anyone know whether progress has been made and if any of the fleet have been returned to flight?

The issue seems to have gone a little quiet.

<_<

BC

Brendan, I haven't seen any of the ones at Edinburgh back in the air yet.
Rod.

Thanks Rod,

I guess that they are working hard at either the drawing board or in the hangars!

:huh:

BC

Interesting report from the Heli-Pacific 2010 Conference on the Gold Coast this week.

Commander Tim Leonard, co-ordinator of the MRH90 Introduction into Service Task Group, said a range of issues continued to dog the programme.
‘Some of the immediate challenges we face are an insufficient rate of effort to support introduction into service activities. This has been due to a number or reasons,' Leonard said.
‘There has been poor system reliability or design on items that include cabin floors, windscreens, main gear box, machine gun mounts and recently, of course, the engines. The inconsistent supply chain has meant that aircraft often spend longer on the ground than we would like while we wait for spare parts. This inconsistency rate of effort has hampered our ability to train the instructors required to grow the best of the capability.’


Full article here : http://www.shephard.co.uk/news/rotorhub/heli-pacific-2010-adf-addresses-mrh90-problems/6419/

Mick

From Todays Advertiser.

Eurocopter exec blames pilots for using incorrect "Hot Restart" procedures, causing damage to seals and bearings resulting in engine failure.

Defence insists that it is using written procedures supplied by the manufacturer and that therefore they must be incorrect.

Anyone for a good "Mexican Standoff"??

Helos are still grounded till at least next week.

Rod. ^_^

Hmmmmm,

Doesn't sound encouraging if they can't agree on that one.

Here is what we can expect at the flight procedures review meeting......

Attached Image

Caught a "Sierra Romeo" flight from Aust Aero at Brisbane last week ( 13th July ).

Mick

This post has been edited by Mick Raftery on Jul 20 2010, 08:11 PM

Attached Image

Thanks for the pic Mick!

Rod,

Looks like you're right again, here is the latest update on the fleet's return tho the air.....

DEFENCE MEDIA RELEASE

MSPA 310/10 Thursday, 22 July 2010

MRH90 recommencement of flying operations

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) today announced that Multi Role Helicopters (MRH90s) will recommence flying operations later this week.

This follows an incident north of Adelaide in April this year where an MRH90 suffered an engine failure in one of its two main engines.

The Defence Materiel Organisation's (DMO) Head Helicopter Systems Division, Rear Admiral Mark Campbell, stated that media reports alleging pilot error being a factor in the engine failure were incorrect.

"There is no suggestion of pilot error as alleged in one UK report," Rear Admiral Campbell said.
Eurocopter CEO, Dr Lutz Bertling, has also written to the Minister for Defence Materiel and Science, Greg Combet to directly refute any suggestion that engine damage was caused by improper handling of the aircraft by ADF pilots.

Rear Admiral Campbell also said an inspection regime and preventative measures have been developed to lift the current flying suspension.

"I can confirm flying operations will commence shortly following approval by Defence's Operational Airworthiness Authority.

"Extensive work has been conducted by Rolls Royce Turbomeca and our Industry partners with support from the Defence Science and Technology Organisation to identify the cause of the engine failure.

"We are advised the failure resulted from compressor blade fracture due to contact with the engine casing."

The impact of the engine failure combined with the workload to address some technical issues with this very capable but highly complex digital aircraft will delay the first flight at sea for Navy, which is now expected to occur in mid 2011.

The first Army capability objective of one deployable MRH90 troop will also be delayed.

Of the 46 MRH90 helicopters ordered for the Australian Navy and Army, 11 have been accepted and are being used for training and testing which contributes to the development of operational capability over the next few years.

Media contacts:
Defence Media Liaison: (02) 6265 3343 or 0408 498 664

Yes BC, todays Advertiser carries another story basically the same as the press release.
Rod.

A friend in Townsville has just tweeted that there is one doing circuits there right now.

" MRH-90 doing a circuit over Townsville! 19 minutes ago via Twitterrific Retweeted by you

3:00 pm Tuesday 03/08/2010."

BC

No worries, Brendan. Sorry for the image quality - caught on the wrong side of runway again !

Managed to grab 012 last week as it disappeared into the coastal showers.

Mick

Attached Image

And 010 heading north on Saturday.

Townsville ?

Mick

Attached Image

And A40-001 noted back at the 'shed' today.

Mick