EASA AD No.: 2012

- 0108

- E

CAP.00111

- 001 © European Aviation Safety Agency. All rights reserved. 1 / 2 Proprietary document. Copies are not controlled. Confirm revision status through the EASA

- Internet/Intranet. 

## EASA EMERGENCY AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVE

AD No

. : 2012

- 0108

- E

Date: 15 June 2012

Note: This Emergency Airworthiness Directive (AD) is issued by EASA, acting in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 on behalf of the European Community, its Member States and of the European third countries that participate in the activities of EASA under Article 66 of that Regulation.

This AD is issued in accordance with EC 1702/2003, Part 21A.3B. In accordance with EC 2042/2003 Annex I, Part M.A.301, the continuing airworthiness of an aircraft shall be ensured by accomplishing any applicable ADs. Consequently, no person may ope rate an aircraft to which an AD applies, except in accordance wi th the requirements of that AD

, unless otherwise specified by the Agency [EC 2042/2003 Annex I, Part M.A.303] or agreed with the Authority of the State of Registry [EC 216 / 2008 , Article 14 ( 4 ) exemption].



### Design Approval Holder’s Name :
EUROCOPTER Type/Model designation(s) : SA 365, AS 365 helicopters

TCDS Number: France No. 159

F oreign AD: Not applicable

Supersedure: None



### ATA 53 Fuselage

– Frame No. 9

– Inspection / Repair

Manufacturer(s): Eurocopter (formerly Eurocopter France, Aérospatiale)

Applicability: Applicability: SA 365 N, SA 365 N1, AS 365 N2 and AS 365 N3 helicopters, all serial numbers, if a frame No.9 is installed

- on which doublers or repairs at the level of the latch support and/or stretcher support have been installed in service in accordance with Eurocopter Alert Service Bulletin (ASB) 53.00.42, or ASB 53.00.43 , or

- on which d oublers or repairs have been installed in production in accorda nce with drawing 365A094158, or drawing 365A094159, or

- in accordance with Mechanical Repair Manual Work Card 53.10.22.772 or Work Card 53.10.22.773.
This AD does not apply to helicopters that have been modified in production in accordance with Eurocopter MOD 53C17 or MOD 53D02

Reason: Eurocopter was informed of a crack

, which was discovered during the T inspection of an AS365 helicopter, starting from a rivet hole of the dou bler installed in the frame No. 9 in accordance with the instructions of Eurocopter ASB No. 53.00.42.

Structural alteration of the frame No.9 by modifica tions or repairs can result in fatigue crack initiation under normal operational loads

. This condition, if not detected and corrected, could lead to crack propagation and failure of the frame No. 9 which would adversely affect the structural integri ty of the helicopter.
For the reasons described above, this AD requires repetitive inspections of the frame No. 9 in the area of the doublers or the repair performed in the area of theEASA AD No.: 2012

- 0108

- E

CAP.00111

- 001 © European Aviation Safety Agency. All rights reserved. 2 / 2 Proprietary document. Copies are not controlled. Confirm revision status through the EASA

- Internet/Intranet. latch support and stretcher support

.

Effective Date: 19 June 2012

Required A ction(s) and Compliance Time(s) : Required as indicated, unless accomplished previously:
(1) Within 10 Flight Hours (FH) after the effective date of this AD, and thereafter, at intervals not to exceed 110 FH

, inspect frame No. 9 Right Hand ( RH ) side and Left Hand ( LH ) side in accordance with instructions of paragraph 3 of Eurocopter A SB AS365 ASB 05.00.63.
(2) I f, during an inspection required by paragraph (1) of this AD, a crack is found, before next flight

, contact Eurocopter for approved repair instructions and perform those repairs accordingly.
A ferry flight not exceeding 10 FH is allowed if the cumulated length of crack(s) does not exceed 80 mm.
(3) Repair of a helicopter as required by paragraph (2) of this AD does not constitute terminating action for the repetitive inspection requirements of paragraph (1) of this AD.

Ref. Public ations: Eurocopter AS365 ASB 05.00. 6 3 Original issue

, dated 06 June 2012
The use of later approved revisions of this document is acceptable for compliance with the requirements of this AD.

Remarks: 1. If requested and appropriately substantiated

, EASA can approve Alternative Methods of Compliance for this AD.

2. The results of the safety assessment ha ve indicated the need for immediate publication and notification , without the full public consultation
process

. 3. Enquiries regarding this A D should be referred to the Safety Information Section, Executive Directorate , EASA. E

- mail : ADs@easa.eur opa.eu

. 4. For any question concerning the technical content of the requirements in this AD, please contact: EUROCOPTER (STDI)

– Aéroport de Marseille Provence

, 13725 Marignane Cedex, France; telephone +33 (4) 12 85 97 97; facsimile +33 (4) 85 99 66; E

- mail: Directive.technical

- support@eurocopter.com

.