Airworthiness Directives; Bell Helicopter Textron Canada Model 222, 222B, 222U, 230, and 430 Helicopters

This amendment adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the specified Bell Helicopter Textron Canada (BHTC) model helicopters. This action requires initial and repetitive inspections of each tail rotor counterweight bellcrank (bellcrank) with a specified part number and serial number. If external damage, a crack, roughness, or looseness between the bearing set and bellcrank is found or if bearing set axial play exceeds 0.015 inch, this action requires replacing the bellcrank with an airworthy bellcrank with two prefix letters in the serial number. This amendment is prompted by reports of failure and subsequent loss of a weighted portion of the bellcrank and reports of certain replacement bellcranks having design flaws. The actions specified in this AD are intended to prevent bellcrank failure, loss of a weighted portion of the bellcrank, and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.