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R44 captain reported a failure of the upper mast bearing that resulted in a diversion.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1692647 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201908 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Robinson R44 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Parked |
| Route In Use | Direct |
| Flight Plan | VFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Helicopter Gearbox and Drive |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Single Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Instrument |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 90 Flight Crew Total 8000 Flight Crew Type 400 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
We had a rupture of the upper mast bearing in flight; which caused contamination and condemnation of the mgb (main gear box) due to corrosion of this bearing and its parts that entered into the main gear box. The mgb chip light did not light and the flight was interrupted at the captain's discretion without any accidents or casualties. There is no inspection or verification procedure for this bearing before overhaul (2;200 hours) and I consider this a very serious maintenance inspection failure. The manufacturer is checking with the technical industry for perhaps issuing inspection service bulletin of this bearing before overhaul.our helicopter is only 1;040 hours totals; all the revisions and inspections were done and the try-rap of mast was in good condition; but this bearing was very corroded and we almost had a tragic consequence. If this bearing had been inspected more often this dangerous situation we had could have been avoided.I ask them to acknowledge and check the progress of the issuance of this service bulletin so that we have no possibility of accidents with the R44 of the world fleet.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: R44 Captain reported a failure of the upper mast bearing that resulted in a diversion.
Narrative: We had a rupture of the upper mast bearing in flight; which caused contamination and condemnation of the MGB (Main Gear Box) due to corrosion of this bearing and its parts that entered into the main gear box. The MGB chip light did not light and the flight was interrupted at the Captain's discretion without any accidents or casualties. There is no inspection or verification procedure for this bearing before overhaul (2;200 hours) and I consider this a very serious maintenance inspection failure. The manufacturer is checking with the technical industry for perhaps issuing inspection service bulletin of this bearing before overhaul.Our helicopter is only 1;040 hours totals; all the revisions and inspections were done and the try-rap of mast was in good condition; but this bearing was very corroded and we almost had a tragic consequence. If this bearing had been inspected more often this dangerous situation we had could have been avoided.I ask them to acknowledge and check the progress of the issuance of this service bulletin so that we have no possibility of accidents with the R44 of the world fleet.
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.