Australia’s Tiger Fleet Resumes Operations

The Australian Department of Defence (DoD) has announced that the Australian Army’s fleet of Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters (ARH) has returned to regular training activities following the lifting of a temporary suspension. The DoD made the announcement on 3 August.

The suspension began on 26 June 2012 as a safety measure following the precautionary landing of an aircraft at the Shoalwater Bay training area on 25 June when fumes were detected in the cockpit. The suspension was lifted after the Army Operational Airworthiness Authority received a detailed assessment and recommendation to resume flying operations from the Technical Airworthiness Authority.

According to the DoD, the investigation determined that the source of the detected fumes was a faulty capacitor in the power supply module in a cockpit multi function display (MFD). It said that the fleet has been examined and the faulty power supply modules will be returned to the manufacturer for modification.