Thu, Sep 09, 2010
Focus Of The Program Is To Detect Mechanical Degradation To
Reduce Time On The Ground
The FAA Aviation Research Grants Program has awarded the
Helicopter Association International (HAI) a cooperative agreement
to support research titled “Validation of FAA AC-29-MG for
Usage Credits”. “HAI is pleased to be working with the
FAA on this important project” says Matthew Zuccaro, HAI
President. “The ability of the Health and Usage Systems
(HUMS) to detect mechanical degradation significantly reduces
unscheduled maintenance of the power train, enhancing aircraft
availability and avoiding mechanical failures in flight. In
addition, this technology measures the intensity of operational
usage in a way that promises to extend the safe lives of components
that are subject to less demanding operational use.”
HAI says that because helicopters can perform a variety of
missions, from heavy lift to transportation, the useful life of
dynamic components varies. Until the advent of HUMS, little
consideration had been given to the life of a part based on actual
usage. When fully implemented, the collective impact of these and
other features of the HUMS will be an increase in safety and
operational efficiency throughout
The safety contribution of HUMS equipment was verified by the
International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST), formed in 2005 to
reduce the helicopter accident rate by 80 percent in ten years. The
group chartered the Joint Helicopter Safety Analysis Team (JHSAT)
to perform a data driven analysis of all accidents on an annual
basis by statistically analyzing the root causes for every accident
in the data set. This methodology was successfully used by the
Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST) for the air carrier fleet.
The JHSAT reported “The development, installation and use of
HUMS on aircraft to monitor the status of the aircraft systems and
their level of use, or equivalent Engine Monitor Systems (EMS) is a
predominant system failure intervention. The JHSAT has identified
24 (47 percent) of the part/system failure accidents that may have
potential for mitigation by monitoring systems.” In short,
HAI says, HUMS and Conditioned Based Maintenance (CBM) have the
potential to increase operational efficiency, improve safety, and
aircraft availability.
HUMS equipment is starting to be deployed in the civilian
helicopter industry. These systems typically consist of a variety
of sensors and data acquisition systems. The three basic aspects of
HUMS are installation, credit validation, and Instructions for
Continued Airworthiness (ICA). Although installed on a number of
aircraft, to date there has not been a successful application for a
“maintenance credit.”
HAI has put together a team of industry experts and is joining
the effort to support the FAA and the industry as a whole to
document the steps needed to validate the processes needed to
provide flight time extensions for components subject to the least
severe operational loads. They ask that, if you have had experience
operating helicopters with HUMS functionality, especially if you
now operate HUMS equipped aircraft, they would like to hear from
you.
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