Eurocopter has voiced concerns about the safety of supplemental type certificates (STC), claiming three times more accidents are caused by STC’d hardware than by the original aircraft. The European helicopter manufacturer is concerned that some STCs cover such a wide array of major modifications that certifying a new version of the helicopter would be a more prudent course.
According to Michel Soulhiard, technique and maintenance senior manager at Eurocopter’s fleet safety directorate, on AS 350 Ecureuil singles, for example, “technical STC” is labeled a cause in 3.3 percent of accidents, while “technical engine” stands at 1.1 percent and “technical vehicle” accounts for zero percent.
These statistics come from a 92-accident study in the U.S. and Canada over a period of almost five years, ending in October 2008. However, the cause of 15.2 percent of those accidents has not yet been determined.
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