May 9, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This amendment adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Eurocopter France (Eurocopter) Model EC120 helicopters that requires inspecting the tail rotor drive shaft (drive shaft) damper half-clamps (half-clamps) to determine if they are centered on the friction ring, and if not correctly positioned, centering the half-clamps on the friction ring. This amendment is prompted by the discovery of half- clamps that were incorrectly positioned. The actions specified by this AD are intended to detect incorrect positioning of the drive shaft half-clamps, and to prevent interference of the half-clamps with the drive shaft, which could result in scoring on the drive shaft, failure of the drive shaft, and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.