A mechanic with inspection authority (ia); reports about a routine FAA inspection of a 133/135 helic...

Narrative:

In may 2009 during a routine FAA inspection of a 133/135 helicopter operation; the FAA inquired about main rotor yoke calendar life. The yoke installed was P/north 206-010-101-021. Current 'newer' yokes have no calendar life and airworthiness is categorized as an 'on condition' item. It was brought to my attention; that this particular part number was affected by bell ASB206-79-4; which limits its useful life to 10 years. The yoke was installed on this airframe in july 2008. I performed the annual inspection in august 2008 and performed several 100 hour inspections since installation and this was an oversight on my part during inspections. After the FAA inquired about the 10 year life limit on this part; I could not find documentation to properly determine how long this part had been in service. There was no way to determine the calendar life of this part and it was immediately removed from service. It was noted that this aircraft has not carried passengers for hire during the time of this yoke installation. There was no way to determine if the calendar life had been exceeded due to lack of documentation of this part.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Mechanic with inspection authority (IA); reports about a routine FAA inspection of a 133/135 helicopter operation inquiring about a Bell JetRanger 206B main yoke calendar life. The IA could not find documentation to properly determine how long the yoke had been in service.

Narrative: In May 2009 during a routine FAA inspection of a 133/135 helicopter operation; the FAA inquired about main rotor yoke calendar life. The yoke installed was P/N 206-010-101-021. Current 'newer' yokes have no calendar life and airworthiness is categorized as an 'On Condition' item. It was brought to my attention; that this particular part number was affected by Bell ASB206-79-4; which limits its useful life to 10 years. The yoke was installed on this airframe in July 2008. I performed the annual inspection in August 2008 and performed several 100 hour inspections since installation and this was an oversight on my part during inspections. After the FAA inquired about the 10 year life limit on this part; I could not find documentation to properly determine how long this part had been in service. There was no way to determine the calendar life of this part and it was immediately removed from service. It was noted that this aircraft has not carried passengers for hire during the time of this yoke installation. There was no way to determine if the calendar life had been exceeded due to lack of documentation of this part.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.

Attributes
ACN	836604
Time
Date	200905
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Kiowa/Kiowa Warrior/Combat Scout
Operating Under FAR Part	Other Part 133
Flight Phase	Parked
Component
Aircraft Component	Main Rotor Hub
Person 1
Function	Inspector
Qualification	Maintenance Airframe Maintenance Powerplant Maintenance Inspection Authority
Experience	Maintenance Inspector 10 Maintenance Technician 28
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Maintenance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

A mechanic with inspection authority (ia); reports about a routine FAA inspection of a 133/135 helicopter operation inquiring about a bell jetranger 206B main yoke calendar life. The ia could not find documentation to properly determine how long the yoke had been in service.