Airworthiness Directives; Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc. (BHTI) Helicopters

We are superseding Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2003-01-04 for BHTI Model 204B, 205A, 205A-1, 205B, and 212 helicopters. AD 2003-01-04 required inspecting the main rotor grip (grip) and reporting certain inspection results to the FAA. AD 2003-01-04 also required performing additional inspections, repair, or replacement depending on whether a crack or delamination was found, and determining and recording the hours time-in-service (TIS) and the engine start/stop cycles for each grip on a component history card or equivalent record. This new AD requires the same actions as AD 2003-01-04 but adds a retirement life to certain grips and expands the applicability to include the Model 210 helicopter and additional part-numbered grips. This AD was prompted by the discovery of additional cracked grips. We are issuing this AD to prevent failure of a grip, separation of a main rotor blade, and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.