HALIFAX - The same model of helicopter involved in a fatal crash off Newfoundland this year is undergoing safety checks in the United Kingdom due to cracks in the footings that attach the gearbox to the aircraft.
A letter sent by Sikorsky to all S-92 helicopter operators says the U.S.-based firm has dispatched engineers to examine the gearbox of a Scottish-based operator after unexplained cracks were discovered in the footing.
Earlier this year, the entire S-92 fleet was grounded after a crash off Newfoundland in which 17 people died.
Investigators with the Transportation Safety Board said that a mounting stud that held the oil filter to the gearbox broke off, leading to a sudden loss of oil minutes before the fatal crash.
A letter from Sikorsky sent Oct. 7 says all of the reported cracks have occurred on helicopters that fly in the North Sea region of Europe.
The Sikorsky letter, provided to The Canadian Press by a British labour union that sits on a joint safety committee, says the most recent crack occurred on a new gearbox which had experienced the same problem just three days earlier.
A spokesman for Sikorsky was not immediately available for comment.
