Bell Helicopter Textron Canada (BHTC) 206 and Agusta
Bell 206 Series Helicopters
Background: Transport Canada received reports of three
occurrences of skin cracks originating near the tail rotor blade
trailing edge balance weight. Two of the occurrences resulted in
loss of the weight and a strip of material along the trailing edge,
leading to an imbalance, which caused fracture of three of the four
tail rotor gearbox attachments. One of these occurrences resulted
in the gearbox shifting that caused failure of the drive shaft,
which resulted in loss of yaw control.