A bank wanted to confirm that the aircraft they held as security, were within their lending limits. The assignment was for a US bank and the owner was a US operator. All the aircraft and records were in order until we started to inspect the records of an AS350B with a date of manufacture of 1988 that, had previously been registered in Canada. The USA logs, that were started, when it was imported in 2002 were all in order and complete. They showed that as of the date of the appraisal inspection, the total airframe time was 3,678. What was not available for inspection, were any records or log books before the importation in 2002.
The missing flight time and years.
The missing years and flight times need to be explained and accounted for when determining the market value of this helicopter. A search of the previous Canadian registration turned up a TSB accident report for this aircraft dating back to 1991 when the aircraft had 2,456 hours of flight time and was destroyed. Now we know where the missing hours came from and that the aircraft was “destroyed” in an accident.
But it’s now flying in the USA.
So how did an aircraft that was completely destroyed in northern Canada, come to be a very nice looking, and well-maintained AS350B happily flying in the USA? One’s first thoughts are, under what nefarious circumstances could this have happened? And some possibilities could be considered. But is there a legitimate process that could make this helicopter whole again?
A Phoenix has risen from the flames.
Yes, there is. At the time Eurocopter Canada was assembling (manufacturing) the AS350 model helicopters at their Fort Erie Ontario plant. The AS350 helicopter fuselage has a part number, and what the Fort Erie plant did was order a complete fuselage from the OEM in France, which was then shipped to the plant in Fort Erie. They would then attach a data plate from an airframe that was previously destroyed in an accident. It was then assembled using a combination of new and overhauled parts and components, and sold as a used helicopter that was remanufactured by the OEM.
Is the date of manufacture 1988 or 2022?
Now for the critical part… should this helicopter be considered a 1988 model year or a 2002 model year when it was recreated? Since it’s not a new data plate you have to go with the original year of manufacture. And what about Total Airframe Time? Is it 1988 with 3,678 TAFT or is it 1988 with 1,222 TAFT? Legally from the regulator’s perspective, the aircraft has a TAFT of 3,678 even though the original aircraft no longer exists. For the appraisal, however, we are trying to determine the market value of the aircraft.
The conclusion
Our position was that since the original aircraft had been “destroyed”, to determine market value, we would treat it as a 1988 DOM with a TAFT of 1,222 because the airframe that the 2,456 of flight time had been accumulated on was not the one which now existed. In the appraisal report, we laid out all the facts, and our rationale for our position that the aircraft should be considered a lower-time airframe for valuing purposes.
Aircraft appraisals are rarely straightforward exercises and can present some interesting and challenging issues on occasion. Another reason to always use a professionally trained certified aircraft appraiser.