Story ID: 130Aug17
Bell 525 Resumes Flight Testing
By: Mark Huber
Caption: The Bell 525 Relentless has resumed flight testing and is on track to certification in 2018.
Word Count: 298
A year and a day since the fatal crash of the first prototype (FTV1), Bell Helicopter resumed flight-testing the 525 Relentless super-medium twin on July 7 after receiving experimental certificate renewal from the FAA. FTV2, N525BK, took to the air from Bell's XworX facility in Arlington, Texas.
“We have resumed a key element of the Bell 525 program,” said Bell CEO Mitch Snyder. “Bell Helicopter has worked with the National Transportation Safety Board and FAA since the accident and we are confident in the resumption of flight-test activity.” Snyder said Bell expects to certify the 525 next year. At the time of the accident last year, three test aircraft had accumulated almost 300 hours of flying. The 525 features fly-by-wire flight controls and Garmin G5000H touchscreen avionics. Neither of the remaining two test aircraft had engaged in ground runs during the standdown. Two more test aircraft are being built at Bell's plant in Amarillo, Texas; one of those new aircraft is expected to fly this year and the other early next year.
The NTSB has yet to issue its final report on the accident. FTV1 was conducting tests near Vne {{the NE in VNE should be small caps}} when the main rotor rpms dropped and the blades departed from the normal rotation plane and struck both the tailboom and the nose during the inflight break-up sequence that destroyed the helicopter near Italy, Texas, according to the NTSB. A Bell executive told AIN last year that the company was making unspecified modifications to the remaining test aircraft in the wake of the accident. Bell declined to elaborate on the exact nature of the modifications again last month, citing its party status to the continuing NTSB investigation.

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