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DART earns STC for five-bladed H145 Emergency Float Systems


February 7, 2022  By Wings Staff

DART Aerospace’s Emergency Float System design for the H145 includes two externally mounted liferafts and delivers substantial weight reductions competing systems. (Photo: Robert Lindner, DART Aerospace).

DART Aerospace, headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, received Supplemental Type Certification from the Federal Aviation Administration for its Emergency Float System with Integrated Liferafts for the five-bladed Airbus H145. This certification joins DART Aerospace’s existing Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA) and European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) approvals.

Previously approved for the Airbus four-bladed H145 and EC145 models, DART explains the floats feature a tri-bag float design for increased stability in water up to sea state 6. The design includes two externally mounted liferafts, delivering what the company describes as 45 per cent weight reduction over other externally mounted liferaft options, while saving cabin space.

“We are eternally grateful to Airbus, FAA, TCCA, and EASA for their support as we pursued this STC during a particularly challenging time so that DART could provide this critical system to the five-bladed H145 operators,” said David Shepherd, VP of Certification at DART Aerospace. “We also received great support from Airbus as we worked together to complete flight testing in Germany in the midst of a global pandemic.”

DART now holds a line-up of more than 1,100 Supplemental Type Certifications of mission equipment and related services, replacement parts, and tooling for civil and military operators, completion centres, MR&O facilities, and all major rotorcraft OEMs.

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