Hairline crack found in St. John's chopper

A Cougar Helicoptersofficial confirmed Thursday that one of its helicopters has been grounded since Tuesday, when a hairline crack was found in the aircraftthat the company uses to transport workers to offshore oil platforms east of St. John's.

Christian Kittleson told CBC News that, during a post-flight inspection, a Cougar employee found a crack in a footing that attaches the main rotor's gearbox to the Sikorsky S-92A's body.

"During a scheduled inspection of an aircraft located in St. John's, Cougar engineers identified a single hairline crack in the mounting feet of the main gearbox," said Kittleson. "This is not a new issue, this is an issue that the manufacturer is reviewing as we speak. Immediately once we found the fracture that gearbox was removed and it will be replaced."

Its the same type of helicopter that crashed into the ocean 55 kilometres southeast of St. Johns last winter, killing 17 of the 18 offshore oil industry workers aboard.

Cougar Helicopters, whichoperated thechopper that crashed near Newfoundland and Labrador lastMarch 12, also reportedNov. 2 that a hairline crack had beenfound in a gearbox mounting foot on one of the S-92As it operates in Halifax.

"There have only been two instances of this happening with us," Kittleson said Thursday.

Four feet attach the main gearbox to the body of the helicopter. The gearbox drives the chopper's main rotor blades.

The European Aviation Safety Agencyissued an emergency directive lastOct. 24 saying cracks had beenfound in parts of the Sikorsky S-92A that attach the main gearbox to the chopper's body. In one case, a gearbox foot was fullydetached from a chopper operating in Europe.

EASA says the problem could lead to loss of control of the helicopter.