Tiger Attack Helicopters (all versions) considered unsafe by Airbus!

via The Australian.

The Airbus bulletin about the choppers which have cost Australia $1.5 billion to buy, was issued after a German operated variant crashed in Africa last month.

Blades falling of the German helicopter mid flight have since been blamed as the possible cause of the crash that saw the aircraft plunge into the desert from a height of about 500m killing the two crew.

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) which operates 22 of the Tigers last week said they had not imposed any restrictions on their fleet after the crash.

But the new bulletin from Airbus released on Friday may raise concerns about continuing to fly the two seater choppers on operations.

The ADF is yet to respond to questions from The Australian asked on Saturday evening about whether any restrictions had come into force since the bulletin was issued.

The bulletin said “despite the missing information and considering a sudden failure, Airbus Helicopters (AH) declares a unsafe condition for all Tiger versions”.

“AH can neither identity the part, the failure of which would lead to the accident, nor the origin of the failure (design, manufacturing, maintenance). “Consequently AH is not in a position to propose a protective measure.”

Story here. 

Wow.

This is what true patriotism and corporate responsibility is all about.  Not doing the safe "social" shit that so many engage in but in doing the hard stuff...the stuff that IS responsible, that hurts, but must be done because YOU ACTUALLY SUPPORT the troops.

It's more than just flag waving, lapel pins and mounting a big ass flag on the back of your jeep and riding around town.

It's about making principled stands on hard issues.

Airbus isn't to be mocked.  They're to be applauded.  We've finally seen someone do the right thing for the right reasons at the right time.