The Transportation Safety Board team investigating the crash of a Sikorsky S-92 found a broken titanium bolt in the aircraft’s main gearbox filter bowl assembly. (link includes picture of filter assembly)
The broken bolt would reportedly cause oil to leak from the gearbox.
In January 2009, Sikorsky alerted all operators of S-92s to the need to replace the titanium bolts with steel ones within 12 months or 1250 flying hours, whichever came first.
The crashed S-92 had not undergone that bolt replacement.
The United States Federal Aviation Administration is expected to issue an emergency airworthiness directive for the type, effectively grounding all S-92s worldwide until the the titanium bolts are replaced with steel ones.
Just a second, there update: A spokesperson for the FAA said the agency hasn’t decided when, how and what type of directive it may issue. The bolt may have broken during the crash or during the recovery operation.
-srbp-