ACCIDENT RECOVERY


By David Jack Kenny


Failed Exam Inadequate inspections cost four helicopter occupants their lives.


C 54 ROTOR JUNE 2023


ONDUCTING FLIGHTS UNDER CFR PART 91 offers operators considerably greater flexibility than under the stringent regulations Parts 135


and 121 impose on charter flights and scheduled air car- riers, respectively. That’s true even for certain limited classes of revenue flights, including instruction in rental aircraft and nonstop air tours that remain within 25 nm of their point of departure.


Maintenance requirements, in particular, for Part 91 operations are limited to the 100-hour or annual inspec- tions required for any aircraft flown for compensation. Manufacturers’ service bulletins—even those labeled “mandatory”—and procedures recommended for unusual situations are considered merely advisory, left to the operator’s discretion. The fact that they’re not strictly


required, however, doesn’t mean that following the guid- ance of the people who designed, built, and probably know the aircraft better than anyone else isn’t a very, very good idea.


The Flight On the afternoon of Feb. 15, 2021, three passengers boarded a Bell 206B-3 for a planned 17-minute sight- seeing flight around St. Thomas, the most populous of the US Virgin Islands. The weather was fine, with clear skies and 12-kt. easterly winds. A witness in his front yard said he saw the helicopter


fly over his house and continue out over the ocean; as the aircraft made a 180-degree turn back toward shore, he began recording video of the flight with his mobile


ISTOCK/SIMONKR


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