EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) issued an emergency Airworthiness Directive (AD) on the AW139 tail rotor on the 25th August 2011, after this latest crash and preliminary report indicating spontaneous catastrophic blade failure.

This supersedes an almost identical AD issued on the 9th May 2011, which is significant because it shows that the manufacturer did not predict such a rapid deterioration in the tail rotor integrity.

There is a new reduced life on the AW139 tail rotor (600 hours), and operators have been given a 25 hour window before they are obligated to perform the madatory emergency inspection.

This AD affects a worldwide fleet of over 450 helicopters, including some operators such as CHC Helicopter Corp with 25 machines passing through the 2,000 hours/airframe mark earlier this year.