EASA AD CF-2025-29: Tail Rotor Blade Abrasion Strip Cracks

What to do

Operators must inspect all affected tail rotor blades visually for cracks before the next flight after June 9, 2025, mark blades without cracks, and perform ongoing inspections before each engine start and every 25 flight hours. If cracks are found, blades must be replaced with non-affected or inspected blades without cracks. Ferry flights to maintenance are permitted under strict conditions if immediate inspection or replacement is not possible.

Summary

The Canadian Airworthiness Directive CF-2025-29 is an urgent directive addressing cracks in the abrasion strips of tail rotor blades on Bell Textron Canada Limited Model 429 helicopters, serial number 57001 and above. It mandates inspections and markings of affected tail rotor blades to detect and prevent fatigue cracking that could lead to catastrophic failure. This directive replaces the previous CN CF-2024-11 issued on March 22, 2024.

What changed

CF-2025-29 expands the applicability of the previous directive CF-2024-11 by including additional tail rotor blade serial numbers potentially affected by abrasion strip cracking. It maintains the inspection and marking requirements while excluding repaired blades with an 'R' suffix from the affected list. The directive also clarifies inspection intervals and conditions for ferry flights to maintenance facilities.

Why it matters

This directive is critical for operators and maintenance organizations to prevent tail rotor blade failure, which can cause severe imbalance, damage to the tail rotor gearbox, and loss of directional thrust during critical flight phases. Compliance ensures continued airworthiness and safety of Bell 429 helicopters, reducing the risk of in-flight emergencies related to tail rotor blade fatigue cracking.

What to do

Summary

What changed

Why it matters

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