‘Great frustration’ with Clutha helicopter maker over water ingress problem
A senior aviation maintenance director has told of his “great frustration” over how the manufacturer of the helicopter involved in the Clutha disaster dealt with the problem of water entering the aircraft’s fuel system.
David Price, who was director of engineering at Bond Air Services - the helicopter operators - at the time of the tragedy, said Eurocopter had promised to resolve the issue for a decade before the fatal crash.
He said the problem of the helicopter’s hydro mechanical unit (HMU) “sucking water in” through the driver seal drain line had been flagged up in June 2003.
A Fatal Accident Inquiry into the crash was shown an email Mr Price sent to Ralph Nicolai at Eurocopter in March 2005 in which he stressed how “what was and still is a flight safety issue has not been prioritised.” He added that the issue was not isolated to any one aircraft, but was a “world wide fleet issue.”
But it took a further nine years before there was a “final solution” to the service bulletin, Mr Price told the court.
The inquiry also heard how in May 2013, just four months before the crash, which claimed the lives of ten people, he was contacted by Eurocopter asking if Bond could make modifications to the helicopter.
The 56- year-old told the inquiry :“There was a feeling of great frustration on a number of occasions. Over ten years there was a promise to resolve this using a combination of Eurocopter’s and Turbomeca’s designs. It is fair to say this was a very frustrating response.”
Mr Price said that, as the flight certificate helicopter, it was Eurocopter - now known as Air bus-who were“ultimately responsible for the continued airworthiness of their fleet.”
The inquiry continues.