AD/BELL 205/1 Amdt 33 - Main Rotor Mast and Trunnion - Retirement Index Number (RIN) Recount/Inspection

The AD builds around a small set of technical and regulatory concepts drawn from the AD text. Those concepts and their operational implications are:

• Retirement Index Number (RIN): The AD requires the operator to determine the “accumulated Retirement Index Number (RIN)” for the main rotor mast and main rotor trunnion (Requirement). The RIN is the metric used by the AD to assess life exposure for the specified components. The AD instructs counting and inspection according to the FAA Emergency Airworthiness Directive it cites; the AD text records that the FAA concluded corrections to the RIN counting procedure were required after reviewing fatigue data (Background).

• Inspection and action as specified by the FAA AD: The AD does not restate the FAA directive’s technical steps in full; instead it mandates that operators “determine the accumulated RIN, inspect, and action in accordance with the technical requirements of FAA Emergency Airworthiness Directive 2000-15-52, Amendment 39-12042” (Requirement). That means the technical content relied on by CASA is contained in the FAA AD and the Bell Service Bulletin that the FAA has approved as an AMOC.

• Alternative Method of Compliance (AMOC) recognition: The AD expressly accepts a particular Bell service bulletin as an FAA-approved AMOC where it is approved by the FAA, stating that Bell Helicopter Textron Alert Service Bulletin 205-00-76, dated 8 April 2000, “approved by the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as an Alternative Method of Compliance (AMOC) to FAA AD 2000-15-52, Amendment 39-12042 is considered acceptable for compliance with the equivalent Requirement of this AD” (Requirement). The AD therefore creates a pathway for compliance by following an FAA-approved manufacturer bulletin rather than other means.

• Life limits and inspections to control metal fatigue risk: The declared purpose is to mandate “life limits and inspections for critical components, to prevent their failure in service from metal fatigue” (Background). The AD notes a prior incident where a main rotor mast cracked due to fatigue associated with a snap ring groove radius that was below a minimum dimension (less than 0.020 inch) and that prompted the FAA AD and previous amendments (Background).

• Amendment effects on previous retirement requirements: Amendment 33 removes a prior retirement requirement for certain bolts at 500 hours TIS and accepts a 1,000 hour TIS retirement in the Bell maintenance manual (Background). The AD therefore relaxes a prior, more frequent retirement prescript in respect of those bolts, while maintaining or changing other requirements via the FAA AD cross-reference.

• Applicability by model and part number: The AD’s scope is limited to specified airframe models and part numbers. The AD lists the specific main rotor mast and trunnion part numbers that bring a given airframe within the directive’s scope (Applicability). Operators of other models or with different part numbers are not brought within the AD by the text provided.

These core concepts mean the AD operates as a technical compliance requirement that relies on external detailed technical documents for how to count RIN and how to inspect and respond. The AD links Australian regulatory effect to FAA technical direction and an FAA-approved manufacturer bulletin.

The AD explicitly affects operators and owners of Bell Helicopter Textron Model 205A, 205A-1, and 205B helicopters when those helicopters have the specified main rotor mast or main rotor trunnion part numbers installed (Applicability). The part numbers listed for the main rotor mast are 204-011-450-001, -007, -105, -113, and -119, and for the main rotor trunnion the listed part numbers are 204-011-105-001 and -103 (Applicability). If an operator’s aircraft lacks those part numbers, the AD text provided does not bring that aircraft within the AD.

Who pays: The operators and owners of the affected helicopters are the parties who must carry out the RIN determination, inspections, and any corrective actions required by the FAA AD or by the Bell service bulletin accepted as an AMOC. The AD sets compliance obligations “from the effective date of this directive” and so operational costs, maintenance labour, replacement parts, aircraft downtime and record-keeping tasks fall to the aircraft owner/operator. The AD itself does not state that CASA will subsidise or otherwise pay for compliance activities.

Who decides technical compliance methods: The AD places primary technical instruction into the FAA Emergency Airworthiness Directive 2000-15-52, Amendment 39-12042, and recognises a specific Bell service bulletin when that bulletin is FAA-approved as an AMOC (Requirement). This allocates substantive technical specification and permissible alternative compliance choices to the FAA and to the manufacturer’s bulletin as accepted by the FAA. CASA, by issuing this AD, adopts those FAA technical requirements and the FAA-approved AMOC for Australian effect. The AD is signed by a CASA delegate (Mike Higgins), which indicates the CASA delegate’s authority to issue the directive in Australia (signature block).

Who enforces: The AD is issued by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) through its delegate; compliance is required from the effective date (Compliance). The AD text provided does not elaborate enforcement mechanisms, sanctions, or penalty schedules; it limits itself to prescribing the technical compliance obligation and to noting the effective date.

Maintenance providers and engineers: Maintenance organisations, licensed engineers and mechanics who perform inspections and parts changes on the affected helicopters will be engaged to perform the RIN recounts and inspections in accordance with the FAA AD or the FA-approved Bell AMOC. They must follow the specific technical procedures in the FAA AD or approved service bulletin to be compliant with this CASA AD.

Regulatory coordination parties: The AD expressly references FAA material and a Bell service bulletin authorised by the FAA as an AMOC. That means the FAA and Bell Helicopter Textron are the originators of the technical direction; CASA adopts that direction for Australian-registered aircraft within the listed applicability. This affects the interaction between Australian regulatory compliance and U.S. FAA regulatory instruments insofar as CASA accepts FAA technical materials as authoritative for the compliance task.

The AD prescribes specific duties for operators of the affected helicopters. The AD text sets the duties by cross-reference to external documents and by listing applicability and compliance timing. Rights are limited to the ability to use an FAA-approved AMOC for compliance where applicable.

Key duties

• Determine accumulated RIN: Operators must “determine the accumulated Retirement Index Number (RIN)” for the main rotor mast and the main rotor trunnion installed on affected aircraft (Requirement). That duty requires operators to have access to usage records, maintenance records, or other evidence of component exposure that feed into the RIN calculation procedure referenced by the FAA AD.

• Inspect and take action per FAA AD: Operators must “inspect, and action in accordance with the technical requirements of FAA Emergency Airworthiness Directive 2000-15-52, Amendment 39-12042” (Requirement). The AD thus delegates the technical content of inspections and remedial actions to the FAA directive. The AD itself does not restate the inspection procedure, but makes compliance with those procedures mandatory for the specified components.

• Use of FAA-approved AMOC when available: The AD explicitly permits compliance via “Bell Helicopter Textron Alert Service Bulletin 205-00-76, dated 8 April 2000” where that bulletin is “approved by the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as an Alternative Method of Compliance (AMOC)” (Requirement). This creates a duty to follow either the FAA AD or the FAA-approved Bell service bulletin where that AMOC exists.

• Compliance from effective date: The AD requires these duties be performed from the effective date of the directive; Amendment 33 was made effective on 2 August 2013 (Compliance). Operators must therefore ensure compliance from that date.

Key rights and procedural points

• Right to comply via FAA-approved AMOC: The AD recognises an FAA-approved AMOC as acceptable for compliance with the equivalent requirement, giving operators an authoritative alternate technical path to compliance if the AMOC is approved by the FAA (Requirement). That is a procedural right to use that particular alternative if FAA approval exists.

• Right to follow the maintenance manual retirement interval for certain bolts: Amendment 33 removes a prior requirement to retire bolts connecting the Drive Link to the Rotating Swashplate at 500 hours TIS and records that the “current TIS of 1000 hours per Bell Helicopter Textron Maintenance Manual BHT-205A1-MM-1 is considered acceptable” (Background). The AD therefore allows operators to comply with that maintenance manual interval for those bolts rather than a more frequent retirement interval that had previously been required.

• No express rights to derogations stated in the AD text: Apart from recognising an FAA-approved AMOC via the specified Bell service bulletin, the AD does not set out a separate CASA process for alternate methods of compliance or waivers in this AD text. The AD’s text confines alternatives to the FAA-approved AMOC it names as acceptable.

Administrative duties implicit in the AD

• Record-keeping to establish RIN: Determining the accumulated RIN necessarily requires record review and record-keeping. The AD requires the determination of RIN values as part of compliance, which imposes an administrative duty on operators and maintenance record custodians to maintain and produce sufficient records to compute RIN per the FAA counting procedure now deemed corrected (Background).

• Implementation of inspection findings: Where inspections reveal deficiencies, the AD’s cross-referenced FAA AD will set out necessary actions. Operators must implement those actions to achieve compliance with this CASA AD.

The AD’s duties are therefore prescriptive in subject matter and timing, but they rely on external FAA technical documentation for the detailed steps and accept one specified FAA-approved manufacturer AMOC as an equivalent method to satisfy the AD.

The AD text supplied does not set out a penalty schedule, monetary fines, or civil/criminal sanctions that will be applied for non-compliance. The AD prescribes a mandatory technical obligation with an effective date, and it is issued by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority via a delegate (signature block: Mike Higgins). The AD therefore creates an enforceable regulatory requirement under CASA’s regulatory authority, but the directive itself does not list enforcement procedures or penalties.

What the AD does state with enforcement effect

• Mandatory compliance from effective date: The AD requires compliance “from the effective date of this directive” and records that Amendment 33 becomes effective on 2 August 2013 (Compliance). The effect of that language is to fix an operational compliance deadline for affected operators.

• Issuing authority: The AD is signed by a CASA delegate, indicating that CASA has effected the directive in the Australian regulatory regime (signature block). Enforcement in practice would be carried out by CASA using its regulatory tools, but those tools and the process are not included in the AD text.

What is not in the AD text

• The AD does not set out specific civil penalties, administrative fines, or criminal sanctions in the body of its text. The AD likewise does not state the procedural steps CASA will take for detection, audit, or enforcement, nor the process for contesting enforcement action. Any enforcement mechanisms or penalties therefore must be derived from CASA’s general regulatory powers and enforcement framework rather than from this AD text itself.

Operational enforcement implications that follow from the AD wording

• Non-compliance risk is implicit: Because the AD is a mandatory safety directive issued by CASA, operators face regulatory exposure if they fail to implement the AD as required. The AD itself does not quantify enforcement outcomes, but operators should expect CASA to treat failure to comply with an AD as an actionable regulatory breach under the broader aviation safety enforcement regime.

• Reliance on FAA technical documents and AMOC: The AD’s acceptance of an FAA-approved AMOC and its cross-reference to FAA AD 2000-15-52 for technical requirements mean that CASA will assess compliance against those FAA technical standards. Failure to comply with the FAA AD or with the FAA-approved Bell service bulletin where invoked would be non-compliance with this CASA AD.

• Administrative records as evidence: Because the AD requires determining accumulated RIN, operators’ records will be central to any enforcement assessment. The AD implicitly increases the evidentiary importance of accurate RIN computation and retention of maintenance and flight-hour records that support RIN claims.

In short, the AD creates a compliance obligation enforceable by CASA, sets a compliance date, and ties compliance to FAA technical materials and an FAA-approved manufacturer AMOC, but it does not itself set out the enforcement procedures or penalties within its text.

The AD explicitly creates regulatory cross-references between Australian regulatory action and foreign technical directives and manufacturer guidance. It interacts with other regulatory instruments and maintenance materials in the following concrete ways, as stated in the AD text.

Interaction with FAA Airworthiness Directive and FAA approvals

• The AD requires that operators “determine the accumulated RIN, inspect, and action in accordance with the technical requirements of FAA Emergency Airworthiness Directive 2000-15-52, Amendment 39-12042” (Requirement). That is a direct cross-reference to a United States FAA AD, which contains the technical inspection, counting and remedial measures. CASA’s AD therefore imports the FAA AD’s technical content as the operative technical standard for Australian compliance.

• The AD also records that Bell Helicopter Textron Alert Service Bulletin 205-00-76, dated 8 April 2000, “approved by the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as an Alternative Method of Compliance (AMOC) to FAA AD 2000-15-52, Amendment 39-12042 is considered acceptable for compliance with the equivalent Requirement of this AD” (Requirement). This recognises the FAA’s AMOC approval process and binds Australian compliance to FAA approval status for that service bulletin.

Interaction with manufacturer maintenance manual

• The AD notes that Amendment 33 “removes the requirement for retiring bolts connecting the Drive Link to Rotating Swashplate at 500 hours Time in Service (TIS). Current TIS of 1000 hours per Bell Helicopter Textron Maintenance Manual BHT-205A1-MM-1 is considered acceptable” (Background). That statement explicitly links the AD’s acceptable practice to the manufacturer maintenance manual interval, allowing operators to rely on the maintenance manual’s 1,000 hour TIS limit for those bolts.

Interaction with prior CASA amendments and historical FAA action

• The AD indicates an amendment history that ties into prior CASA and FAA actions. It notes that “Amendment 32 became effective on 9 August 2000 and was issued in response to a new FAA AD” prompted by a cracked main rotor mast report, and that Amendment 33 further amends prior requirements (Background). The AD therefore is part of an ongoing regulatory sequence that includes prior CASA amendments and FAA directives.

What the AD text does not do

• The text does not reference Australian legislation or regulatory provisions by section number that underpin CASA’s power to issue the AD. The AD supplies the technical requirement and its sources, but it does not recite the domestic statutory provision giving CASA enforcement powers. Therefore any legal enforcement power must be read as deriving from CASA’s existing statutory authority outside of this document.

Practical consequences of these interactions

• Technical standard alignment: By cross-referencing the FAA AD and accepting an FAA-approved AMOC, the AD aligns Australian technical standards for the affected components with the FAA’s technical judgement and with the manufacturer’s FAA-approved bulletin. That simplifies compliance for operators that already follow FAA-based instructions, but it ties Australian compliance to the content and approvals of U.S. instruments.

• Reliance on foreign approvals: The AD’s acceptance of FAA approvals for AMOCs means Australian operators can rely on FAA AMOC approvals for the named service bulletin. It also means that technical changes, AMOC revocations, or further FAA amendments may affect what constitutes compliance in Australia if CASA adopts the FAA position by reference in subsequent action.

• Maintenance manual acceptance: The AD explicitly accepts the content of the Bell maintenance manual for the TIS interval for the specific bolts; it harmonises the AD with manufacturer routine maintenance guidance on that point.

Overall, the AD formalises the linkage between CASA’s airworthiness directive for Australian-registered aircraft and the FAA’s emergency AD and an FAA-approved manufacturer service bulletin. It does not, in the provided text, set out domestic procedural enforcement or statutory citation but instead imports technical requirements from the FAA and Bell service documentation.

The AD text contains an explicit amendment history embedded in its Background and header material. The key amendment dates and milestones recorded in the AD text are:

• Original issue (AD/BELL 205/1 original): The AD’s “original issue” is recorded in the text as having “become effective on 5 September 1968” (Background). That records the long-standing origin of the AD series for these helicopters.

• Amendment 32: The AD notes that “Amendment 32 became effective on 9 August 2000 and was issued in response to a new FAA AD which was prompted by a report of another cracked main rotor mast.” The Background also records the technical cause , metallurgical inspection showed the mast cracked due to fatigue in snap ring groove radii that were smaller than the 0.020 inch minimum allowable dimension , and that the FAA concluded several corrections to the RIN counting procedure were required based on review of fatigue data and previously issued Directives (Background). Amendment 32 therefore responded to a particular safety event and to FAA findings.

• Amendment 33: The AD before you is Amendment 33, recorded as Amendment 33 and assigned the AD identifier AD/BELL 205/1 Amdt 33, reference 16/2013. Amendment 33 “removes the requirement for retiring bolts connecting the Drive Link to Rotating Swashplate at 500 hours Time in Service (TIS). Current TIS of 1000 hours per Bell Helicopter Textron Maintenance Manual BHT-205A1-MM-1 is considered acceptable” (Background). The AD states that Amendment 33 “also notates the acceptability of an FAA approved AMOC for compliance with the equivalent requirement of this AD” (Background). Amendment 33 is dated with a signature block from Mike Higgins, Delegate of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, dated 26 July 2013, and the AD text states that “This Amendment becomes effective on 2 August 2013” (Compliance).

How the amendment history is presented

• The AD records its evolution as responses to FAA action and technical findings. Amendment 32 responded to a new FAA AD triggered by a cracked mast and metallurgical findings about an out-of-spec snap ring groove radius (Background). Amendment 33 then modified earlier prescriptive retirement intervals for certain bolts and formally accepted an FAA-approved AMOC as an acceptable compliance path.

• The amendment history as supplied does not record any other intermediate amendments, corrections, or revocations beyond the original issue, Amendment 32 and Amendment 33. The AD text supplied notes the original issue date, the date for Amendment 32, and the effective date for Amendment 33.

Implications from the recorded amendment history

• The sequence shows that CASA has synchronised some of its airworthiness directives with FAA actions over time, and that technical root causes (e.g., sub-minimum groove radii leading to fatigue failure) prompted changes to RIN counting and life-limit policy in the relevant directives.

• Amendment 33 relaxed a prior bolt retirement requirement (from 500 hours to acceptance of 1,000 hours per the maintenance manual) while maintaining the need to determine RIN and to follow the FAA AD’s inspection and action requirements. That is an explicit mechanical change recorded in the amendment.

The AD text therefore contains a concise amendment track record: original AD effective 5 September 1968; Amendment 32 effective 9 August 2000; Amendment 33 effective 2 August 2013, with the specific operational changes described in the Background and Requirement fields of the AD.

The text of AD/BELL 205/1 Amdt 33 provided contains no record of litigation. It lists incident reports, metallurgical inspection results, FAA conclusions and previous amendments, but it does not reference any court decisions, tribunal findings, or legal challenges concerning this AD or its predecessors.

What the source explicitly records

• The AD recounts a technical incident that prompted the FAA AD: “a report of another cracked main rotor mast. Metallurgical inspection revealed that the mast cracked as a result of fatigue in snap ring groove radii that were smaller than the 0.020 inch minimum allowable dimension” (Background). The FAA’s response included corrections to RIN counting procedures. However, these are investigative and regulatory steps, not litigation.

• The AD records its amendment history (original issue 1968, Amendment 32 in 2000, Amendment 33 in 2013) and the signature of a CASA delegate, but nowhere does the AD record judicial review, enforcement litigation, or any legal proceedings connected to this AD.

Absence of litigation in the AD text

• Because the AD text contains no litigation history, one must not infer the absence of any litigation ever having occurred outside the document. The AD simply does not include or cite any such matters. For the purposes of this directive and the text at hand, there are no judicial or tribunal proceedings recorded.

Practical consequence for readers

• If a practitioner requires information on any litigation relating to the AD series or to the underlying technical failures, that information must be sought outside the AD text provided, by searching court records, tribunal decisions, or CASA enforcement records. The AD itself does not supply that material.

In short, the AD supplies an incident narrative and regulatory amendment history but contains no litigation history.

The AD text includes a number of technical and procedural subtleties that may be material to compliance planning and risk assessment. The following are explicit or reasonable inferences tightly grounded in the AD text.

Applicability narrowness and part-number specificity

• The AD applies only to Model 205A, 205A-1 and 205B helicopters that have the listed main rotor mast or main rotor trunnion part numbers installed (Applicability). If a helicopter is a Model 205-series but has different part numbers installed, this AD text does not bring it within the declared applicability. Operators must therefore confirm installed part numbers carefully rather than rely solely on model designation.

Cross-reference dependence on FAA directive for technical detail

• The AD requires actions “in accordance with the technical requirements of FAA Emergency Airworthiness Directive 2000-15-52, Amendment 39-12042” (Requirement). The CASA AD itself does not restate the FAA AD’s technical procedures. Practitioners must obtain and follow FAA AD 2000-15-52, Amendment 39-12042 (and any FAA amendments or corrections that affect its substance) to know the precise inspection steps, RIN counting rules, and corrective actions. Failure to follow the exact FAA AD content could result in non-compliance in Australia, because the CASA AD imports that content by reference.

AMOC acceptance is limited to FAA-approved Bell Service Bulletin

• The AD specifies that Bell Helicopter Textron Alert Service Bulletin 205-00-76 dated 8 April 2000 is acceptable for compliance only if it has been “approved by the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as an Alternative Method of Compliance” (Requirement). That phrasing means Australian operators can rely on that Bell service bulletin for compliance only where that bulletin holds FAA AMOC approval. The AD does not state that CASA independently approves the Service Bulletin as an AMOC; it recognises FAA approval for the same.

RIN counting corrections may change retirement timing

• The Background states that the FAA “has concluded that several corrections to the RIN counting procedure are required based on a review of the fatigue data and previously issued Directives” (Background). That suggests that previously counted RINs may have been incorrect under the corrected procedure, which in turn could cause components previously thought to be within life limits to exceed them after the recount. Operators must therefore be prepared for the RIN recount to reveal additional life exposure and the consequent need for more immediate component retirement or further inspection.

Bolt retirement interval change is component-specific

• Amendment 33 “removes the requirement for retiring bolts connecting the Drive Link to Rotating Swashplate at 500 hours Time in Service (TIS)” and records that the “current TIS of 1000 hours per Bell Helicopter Textron Maintenance Manual BHT-205A1-MM-1 is considered acceptable” (Background). This is a specific relaxation of a previously required interval for those bolts alone; it does not necessarily alter retirement intervals for other components. Practitioners must not generalise this change to other parts not referenced.

Technical root cause detail matters for inspection focus

• The Background notes a metallurgical finding that a cracked mast resulted from fatigue in snap ring groove radii smaller than the 0.020 inch minimum allowable dimension (Background). That identifies a specific physical feature (snap ring groove radius) implicated in fatigue failures; inspection programmes governed by the FAA AD may therefore include checks targeted at that feature. Practitioners should ensure inspection providers are aware of that technical focus.

Effective date and timing

• The AD becomes effective on 2 August 2013 (Compliance). That is the date from which compliance obligations run. Operators who delay RIN recounts or inspections after that date may be non-compliant.

Record-keeping and evidentiary exposure

• Because the AD requires a RIN recount and inspection “in accordance with” the FAA AD, operators’ maintenance and usage records will be evidence of compliance or non-compliance. The AD therefore heightens the importance of accurate, retrievable records documenting flight hours, component installations and previous inspections.

No explicit enforcement or penalty details in the AD text

• The AD does not say what specific penalty will attach to non-compliance. That absence is a procedural gotcha: non-availability of penalty detail in the AD does not equal absence of enforcement risk under CASA’s broader authority. Practitioners should assess enforcement risk using CASA’s general regulatory framework rather than relying on the AD to supply penalty detail.

In sum, the principal operational gotchas are the AD’s reliance on part-number specificity, its delegation of technical detail to FAA material, its limited scope for AMOC acceptance (FAA-approved Bell SB only), the potential for RIN recounts to change component retirement timing, and the need to maintain accurate records supporting RIN calculations and inspections.

The AD sets out a narrow, procedural route to compliance. The following steps are the compliance pathway described in the AD text, together with practical implications explicitly implied by the AD’s wording.

Step 1 , Confirm applicability

• Verify the aircraft model and installed part numbers against the AD’s Applicability clause. The AD applies to Model 205A, 205A-1 and 205B helicopters with main rotor mast part numbers 204-011-450-001, -007, -105, -113, or -119, or main rotor trunnion part numbers 204-011-105-001 or -103 installed (Applicability). If these part numbers are not installed on the airframe, the AD as supplied does not apply.

Step 2 , Obtain the referenced FAA material and the Bell service bulletin

• Acquire FAA Emergency Airworthiness Directive 2000-15-52, Amendment 39-12042, since the AD requires determining RIN, inspecting, and acting “in accordance with the technical requirements” of that FAA AD (Requirement). The CASA AD does not restate the FAA AD’s procedures; compliance requires following the FAA AD’s detailed steps.

• Obtain Bell Helicopter Textron Alert Service Bulletin 205-00-76 dated 8 April 2000. The AD states this Service Bulletin “approved by the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as an Alternative Method of Compliance (AMOC) … is considered acceptable” for compliance where it is FAA-approved (Requirement). Confirm, however, that the Service Bulletin has FAA AMOC approval before relying on it as the compliance method.

Step 3 , Determine accumulated RIN

• Perform the Retirement Index Number recount per the counting procedure required by the FAA AD. The Background notes that the FAA concluded corrections to the RIN counting procedure were required; operators must apply the corrected counting method referenced by the FAA AD when determining accumulated RIN (Background). This will likely involve review of flight and component records to compute RIN for the mast and trunnion.

Step 4 , Inspect per FAA AD or FAA-approved Bell SB

• Conduct the inspections prescribed in the FAA AD or in the FAA-approved Bell Service Bulletin used as an AMOC. The CASA AD requires inspection “in accordance with the technical requirements of FAA Emergency Airworthiness Directive 2000-15-52, Amendment 39-12042” (Requirement). Follow the procedural steps, inspection intervals and acceptance criteria exactly as set out in the FAA instrument or the FAA-approved Bell SB.

Step 5 , Take remedial action as required

• If inspections reveal conditions that the FAA AD or the FAA-approved Service Bulletin calls for remedial action, implement those actions. The CASA AD requires operators to “action in accordance with the technical requirements” of the FAA AD, so any replacements, repairs, modifications or component retirements set out in the FAA AD or the Bell SB must be implemented to be compliant (Requirement).

Step 6 , Bolt retirement interval for Drive Link to Rotating Swashplate

• For bolts connecting the Drive Link to the Rotating Swashplate, note that Amendment 33 “removes the requirement for retiring bolts … at 500 hours Time in Service (TIS)” and records the “current TIS of 1000 hours per Bell Helicopter Textron Maintenance Manual BHT-205A1-MM-1 is considered acceptable” (Background). Operators may therefore follow the maintenance manual’s 1,000 hour retirement interval for those bolts as the acceptable practice under this AD. Ensure maintenance records reflect the TIS calculations used.

Step 7 , Recordkeeping and evidence

• Maintain and produce records that support the RIN determination, inspection findings, and any actions taken. The AD’s requirement to “determine the accumulated RIN” makes accurate records central to demonstrating compliance (Requirement). Operators should keep contemporaneous documentation of the RIN recount, inspection reports, and details of corrective actions or parts replacements.

Step 8 , Timing

• Ensure all steps are completed from the AD’s effective date. Amendment 33 is effective on 2 August 2013 and the AD states compliance is required “From the effective date of this directive” (Compliance). Schedule recounts and inspections promptly to meet the effective date obligations.

Step 9 , Use of AMOC

• If relying on Bell Helicopter Textron Alert Service Bulletin 205-00-76 as the compliance method, confirm that the bulletin is FAA-approved as an AMOC for FAA AD 2000-15-52, Amendment 39-12042. The CASA AD expressly conditions acceptance on FAA AMOC approval (Requirement). Document the FAA approval as part of the compliance record.

Step 10 , Engage qualified maintenance personnel

• Use appropriately licensed maintenance organisations and personnel who are acquainted with FAA AD counting procedures and with Bell maintenance practices. The AD’s technical requirements are specified in the FAA AD or in the FAA-approved Bell SB; compliance therefore requires sufficient technical competence to perform RIN recounts and the specified inspections.

Practical compliance notes

• The AD’s cross-reference to the FAA AD imposes a dependence on the precise counting procedure corrections that the FAA adopted. Operators must ensure they apply the corrected counting rules; otherwise a recount may be found deficient.

• Because the AD recognises the Bell maintenance manual 1,000 hour TIS for certain bolts, operators should align their bolt retirement records with that manual interval and ensure maintenance records reflect compliance.

• If the RIN recount shows that a component has exceeded its allowable life under the corrected counting rules, operators must remove or otherwise rectify that component in accordance with the FAA AD or the FAA-approved SB.

Following the steps above, and ensuring documentary evidence for each step, will align an operator’s activities with the AD’s requirements as stated in the CASA directive.