Narrative:

This helicopter is used as an electronic news gathering ship. Every 100 hours an engine oil sample is taken for analysis. During the past four samples; the iron content has spiked. After the initial report was received the manufactures tech rep was advised and sent the report. His recommendation was to decrease the oil change interval to 200 hours from 300 hours to lessen the amount of contamination passing through the engine. At that time; the sample level (4.0 parts per million) was less than the threshold level of 7.5 ppm requiring a maintenance action. The next sample was at 8.0 ppm and the maintenance manual calls for three daily samples to establish the accumulation rate. This requirement was added to the aircraft status sheet which is reviewed by the flight crew's daily and the director of maintenance (dom) was advised. The three samples were completely ignored and the aircraft continued in service. At the next 100 hour; the soap sample results had the iron content at 8.7 ppm. The oil was changed but no other actions were taken. I was away from the shop for two weeks and upon my return; no other maintenance or sampling had taken place. I asked the dom to have a tech take a sample and it was sent out. The sample returned at 91 hours on the fresh oil with an iron level of 8.2 ppm. The manufactures rep was again contacted and he stated that if any fuzz or sludge was present on the engine chip plugs; the engine should be taken out of service. This was communicated verbally and by email to the dom. A shop technician stated that there had been sludge present at the last chip plug inspection and this was ignored by the dom. The wear within the engine had increased. Again the proper procedure was to initiate a three consecutive sampling program but this was not done per the dom. Instead the oil was changed. At the next sample with fresh oil; the iron level was 9.8 ppm with 81 hours of operating time. I advised the dom to take the helicopter out of service but he stated to keep it in service and do another oil change and sample at the next 100 hour. The engine has a total time of 3400 hours since new with a tbo of 3600 hours. The reason given by the dom was a replacement engine was not available for 30 days. The engine removal level is anything greater or equal to 15 ppm; or an accumulation rate of greater than .5 mg / hr. These engines have a documented failure rate of certain accessory gears and the tech rep stated that is probably where the iron is being generated from. The prudent action would be to remove the engine from service prior to tbo and have the problem investigated. Due to management's desire to satisfy contract obligations with the T.V. Station; they have elected to keep the aircraft in service. At the last inspection; there were numerous cracks in the engine firewall which required replacement indicating a possible engine vibration problem. The information and signs are in place of a future failure and management continues to ignore the warning signs. This is a precursor to an accident and it will be obvious to any investigating authority there was a known problem and management chose to do nothing about it.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Lead Technician reported that the iron content in the oil system of the engine in a Eurocopter AS350B2 was beyond factory recommended specifications.

Narrative: This helicopter is used as an electronic news gathering ship. Every 100 hours an engine oil sample is taken for analysis. During the past four samples; the iron content has spiked. After the initial report was received the manufactures tech rep was advised and sent the report. His recommendation was to decrease the oil change interval to 200 hours from 300 hours to lessen the amount of contamination passing through the engine. At that time; the sample level (4.0 parts per million) was less than the threshold level of 7.5 ppm requiring a maintenance action. The next sample was at 8.0 ppm and the maintenance manual calls for three daily samples to establish the accumulation rate. This requirement was added to the aircraft status sheet which is reviewed by the flight crew's daily and the director of maintenance (DOM) was advised. The three samples were completely ignored and the aircraft continued in service. At the next 100 hour; the soap sample results had the iron content at 8.7 ppm. The oil was changed but no other actions were taken. I was away from the shop for two weeks and upon my return; no other maintenance or sampling had taken place. I asked the DOM to have a tech take a sample and it was sent out. The sample returned at 91 hours on the fresh oil with an iron level of 8.2 ppm. The manufactures rep was again contacted and he stated that if any fuzz or sludge was present on the engine chip plugs; the engine should be taken out of service. This was communicated verbally and by email to the DOM. A shop technician stated that there had been sludge present at the last chip plug inspection and this was ignored by the DOM. The wear within the engine had increased. Again the proper procedure was to initiate a three consecutive sampling program but this was not done per the DOM. Instead the oil was changed. At the next sample with fresh oil; the iron level was 9.8 ppm with 81 hours of operating time. I advised the DOM to take the helicopter out of service but he stated to keep it in service and do another oil change and sample at the next 100 hour. The engine has a total time of 3400 hours since new with a TBO of 3600 hours. The reason given by the DOM was a replacement engine was not available for 30 days. The engine removal level is anything greater or equal to 15 ppm; or an accumulation rate of greater than .5 mg / hr. These engines have a documented failure rate of certain accessory gears and the tech rep stated that is probably where the iron is being generated from. The prudent action would be to remove the engine from service prior to TBO and have the problem investigated. Due to management's desire to satisfy contract obligations with the T.V. station; they have elected to keep the aircraft in service. At the last inspection; there were numerous cracks in the engine firewall which required replacement indicating a possible engine vibration problem. The information and signs are in place of a future failure and management continues to ignore the warning signs. This is a precursor to an accident and it will be obvious to any investigating authority there was a known problem and management chose to do nothing about it.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.