The FAA has ordered inspections of 1,134 U.S.-registered Airbus Helicopters after a report that a cargo hook released its load with no pilot command. The interim airworthiness directive, numbered 2026-22-01, covers the AS350B2, AS350B3, AS355N, AS355NP and EC130B4 models. It takes effect November 12, 2026, and gives operators 30 days or 50 sling cycles to look at the release hardware, whichever comes first.
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The unsafe condition is easy to state and uncomfortable to picture. A pilot flying an external load is supposed to be the only person who decides when it comes off the hook, using a manual release. In the event behind this order, the load left the hook without that decision being made. The FAA says its purpose is to prevent the unintended loss of the load on the cargo hook, which puts anyone beneath the flight path at risk.
The free-play check on the manual release lever
The directive was published as Federal Register document 2026-21856 on October 27, 2026, and the full text with the amendment number and compliance table shows it was issued October 20 and signed by Steven W. Thompson, acting deputy director of the Compliance and Airworthiness Division in the FAA’s Aircraft Certification Service. Operators must inspect the load dropping control system and check the manual release lever for free play, then take corrective action that depends on what the inspection finds.
A sling cycle is defined in the directive as one landing, with or without stopping the rotor, or one external load-carrying operation. The lever check is repetitive, though the published summary does not state the interval between checks. That gap matters to operators planning maintenance around external-load seasons.
Money is the other side of the order. In the FAA’s cost table, reproduced on the Department of Transportation docket page for FAA-2026-11816, a one-hour inspection at $85 per helicopter adds up to $96,390 across the U.S. fleet, and each repeat of the lever check costs the same. If the dropping control has to be replaced, the agency counts one work-hour plus $1,200 in parts, or $1,285 per aircraft. It says it cannot predict how many machines will need that repair.
A twisted cable in a water bucket line
The FAA order leans on a European finding. EASA Airworthiness Directive 2026-0146, issued July 24, 2026 and effective August 7, covers every serial number of the same five models and names the part at issue: the dropping control, part number 704A41811037, which is the mechanical emergency release of the cargo swing. EASA describes an occurrence in which a water bucket was lost during a water pick-up because the cargo hook let go without pilot action.
The cause it found was physical. The release activation cable was twisted and outside its length tolerances, so the release could not be adjusted properly.
EASA split the work into groups. For helicopters fitted with the ONBOARD 3500LB system, it requires a one-time visual check of the dropping control without removing it and a free-play check of the manual release lever before 50 sling cycles or within 30 days. Before any cargo swing mission, the lever free play must be checked again within the previous 24 hours. If anything is found out of order, the dropping control gets a closer inspection and the service bulletin fixes before the next flight. EASA labels the directive an interim action and says further action may follow. The agency also notes that the text of the inspection paragraphs reads as covering only the first group, leaving the requirements for the remaining helicopters unclear.
The second cargo-release order in under a year
Operators of these helicopters have seen this before. The FAA’s AD 2025-24-06, effective January 12, 2026, applied to the same models after a helicopter lost its cargo load in cargo swing operation because the release cable of the emergency release control was incorrectly adjusted. The agency wrote then that the condition could result in inflight loss of the load and injury to persons on the ground, and it required a one-time inspection with adjustment or replacement of the dropping control.
The earlier order dealt with a cable that was set up wrongly. The new one deals with a hook that opened with nobody touching the release, and it adds the lever free-play check on top of the dropping control inspection. The FAA has not said whether the two events share a root cause, and the directive does not claim a terminating action. EASA likewise lists none.
Comments on the interim rule are due December 11, 2026, and the FAA names Anthony Kenward, an aviation safety engineer in its Westbury, New York office, as the technical contact. Whether the agency settles on a fixed interval for the repetitive lever check, or replaces the whole inspection regime with a design fix, is still unanswered.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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