AD 2003-02-06 Amendment 39-13023

This amendment adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Bell Helicopter Textron Canada Limited (Bell) Model 407 helicopters. This action requires visually inspecting certain tailboom gearbox support castings (castings) for cracks and replacing the tailboom assembly if a crack is found. This amendment is prompted by an incident in which a crack was discovered on the casting that holds the tail rotor gearbox and vertical fin. The actions specified in this AD are intended to detect a crack in the casting and prevent failure of the casting, loss of the vertical fin and tail rotor, and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.