Airworthiness Directives; Airbus Helicopters
Key claim: The FAA proposes requiring operators of Airbus H160-B helicopters to remove emergency windows, clean their jettison ropes, and test the jettison systems after a report that a window could not be jettisoned.
Abstract
(Proposed Rule · Transportation Department, Federal Aviation Administration) The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Airbus Helicopters Model H160-B helicopters. This proposed AD was prompted by a report of the inability to operate the jettisoning function of a window due to a blocked jettisoning mechanism. This proposed AD would require removing the jettisonable windows, cleaning the ropes of the jettisonable windows, and performing an operational test of the windows jettison systems. The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.
Why this matters
Emergency-window jettison is a key egress path after a helicopter ditching or forced landing, so a window that cannot be released turns a survivable incident into a trap. The proposed AD treats a single failure report as a fleet-wide maintenance problem on the H160-B, consistent with FAA’s pattern of catching egress-system defects (sliding doors, life rafts, cabin exits) through model-specific directives.