Bell Sees 'Strong Path Forward' To 525 Certification | Aviation International News

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Bell Sees 'Strong Path Forward' To 525 Certification

Company's largest helicopter has been delayed at the finish line

Bell 525 at the company's booth at Verticon — Bell's 525 was launched in 2012 at Heli-Expo, and flew for the first time in 2015. Now nearly a decade later, and after several missed predictions, the airframer believes it is nearing the certification finish line on the fly-by-wire midsize twin, which will be the largest helicopter in its product line up. © Curt Epstein/AIN

By Curt Epstein • Business Aviation Services Editor

March 10, 2025

Having had its predictions for certification of its 525 slide several times over the past few years, Bell is now taking a more circumspect approach. On Monday at Verticon, Mike Deslatte—who took over leadership of the 525 program in the middle of 2024 as its senior v-p—said the aircraft is still in the type certification process.

“In terms of a date for receipt for receiving type certification, we don't fully control the timeline,” he said. “Obviously, we've got to progress through the final steps to the FAA, and so I'm not going to be very specific in terms of a forecast.”

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Bell 525

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