Accidents
Emergency Spindle AD Grounds Enstroms for Inspections
Action affects approximately 323 U.S.-registered helicopters.

The fatal crash of a 1985 Enstrom 280FX, N86235, during a training flight on January 26 in Erie, Colo., triggered an FAA emergency Airworthiness Directive 2015-04-51 on February 12. Witnesses reported that the main rotor blades separated from the helicopter before impact. The instructor and his student were killed. The emergency AD mandates magnetic particle inspections (MPI) of main rotor blade spindles with 5,000 or more hours' time in service (TIS) or an unknown number of hours' TIS for cracking before further flight for all piston-engine models of Enstroms. It also applies to Enstrom Model 480 turbine singles S/Ns 5001 to 5006 with main-rotor spindle part numbers 28-14282-11 or 28-14282-13.


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