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The FAA is accepting comments through May 26, 2026, on this proposed airworthiness directive (AD), which would supersede AD 2024-02-55, issued Feb. 28, 2024. The proposed AD would retain the inspections in the existing AD while limiting the applicability to exclude certain serial-numbered 505s with an improved-design vertical stabilizer top-end cap. It would also require replacing the vertical stabilizer top-end cap assembly with an improved-design top-end cap assembly.

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has determined the probable cause of the accident to be a total loss of engine power due to a loss of cooling oil to the turbine-to-compressor coupling shaft and subsequent fracture of the shaft at an altitude too low for the pilot to complete a successful autorotation. Investigators cited carbon buildup in the piccolo tube screen and nozzles and the disintegration of the spur adapter gear shaft O-rings as contributing factors.

(The Daily Collegian) – The Penn State Autonomous Robotics Competition Club is 1 of 14 university programs participating in an international GoAERO competition to build an autonomous emergency response flyer.

Vietnam Helicopter Corp. (VNH) subsidiaries VNH North and VNH South have purchased three Airbus H225s to expand offshore energy operations.

(IOL) – A crew of four on an animal carcass investigation landed safely in a remote area of South Africa’s Kruger National Park but could not navigate their way out of thick bush, which led to an overnight stay and a rescue operation the next day using another helicopter and drones.

(WATE) – The Tennessee Department of Health plans to drop 300,000 rabies vaccine baits across eastern Tennessee using helicopters and low-flying fixed-wing aircraft starting Apr. 8 as part of a project with the US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

(National Today) – The Oklahoma Transportation Committee is meeting tomorrow, Apr. 8, to consider a bill that would seek to position the state as a leader in coordinating and integrating drones into the US National Airspace System.

The company’s Valo electric vertical takeoff and landing prototype aircraft conducted the initial transition from vertical takeoff to fixed-wing flight under the oversight of regulators from the UK Civil Aviation Authority and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.

(Fire Island & Great South Bay News) – A US Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk crew hoisted four people from a vessel Apr. 4 southwest of Moriches Inlet.

(Rotorcraft Asia-Pacific e-News) – VAI President and CEO François Lassale provides details about the Southeast Asia Aviation Safety Conference, which will feature a plenary session, technical workshops for operators, regional operator spotlights, lessons learned panels, regulator roundtables, networking opportunities, and more. The conference takes place May 27–29 in Bali, Indonesia.