If this was a FMS (Foreign Military Sale) it is not unusual to NOT have a warranty - the manufacturer is selling to the US DoD not to the end recipient, the DoD isn't in the warranty business. You can pay extra to get a warranty. If it was a DCS (Direct Commercial Sale) then its whatever the contract says. IIRC Singaporean sales are usually a combination of FMS and DCS, frequently the main hardware/platform is DCS, the weapons FMS.
Singapore to suspend flight of her Apache and Sikorsky helcopter
- Thread starter rhino123
- Start date
If this was a FMS (Foreign Military Sale) it is not unusual to NOT have a warranty - the manufacturer is selling to the US DoD not to the end recipient, the DoD isn't in the warranty business. You can pay extra to get a warranty. If it was a DCS (Direct Commercial Sale) then its whatever the contract says. IIRC Singaporean sales are usually a combination of FMS and DCS, frequently the main hardware/platform is DCS, the weapons FMS.
Many nations are operating Apaches with US being the biggest customer of them all. And Apaches are well proven in battlefield. Sure, there are isolated cases of them having problems but i think most hardware, be it Cobra, Apache, Comanche, Sharks, etc, are all having their shares of problems in their lifespan.
It is not as if, just one case of engine failure and that Apache was branded as unreliable. There are magnitude of problems which can lead to engine failures and the fact is that not much data are being released up till now... and what is the root cause of that failure. Was it design error? poor and/or incorrect maintenance? pilots error?
I think we can only wait for more information (if that is possible.).
It is not as if, just one case of engine failure and that Apache was branded as unreliable. There are magnitude of problems which can lead to engine failures and the fact is that not much data are being released up till now... and what is the root cause of that failure. Was it design error? poor and/or incorrect maintenance? pilots error?
I think we can only wait for more information (if that is possible.).
Looks like the engines failure of the Apache was said to be a corroded valve.
1.
2.
This get me to think, since corrosion don't occured overnight, why in the world was there corrosion that was so serious to have caused the complete shut off of the engines and nobody actually detect anything in the first place.
What was Singapore's maintanence procedure and SOP in regards with maintaining their aircrafts. And I think this is the first such reported case of corrosion of the anti-ice start bleed valve (AISBV) that had downed an Apache and Apache was being operated around the globe by many users for some time now... so it couldn't have been a manufacturer fault in this case... design wise, this system is quite sound or we would have seen Apache dropping from the sky in abundance.
1.
2.
This get me to think, since corrosion don't occured overnight, why in the world was there corrosion that was so serious to have caused the complete shut off of the engines and nobody actually detect anything in the first place.
What was Singapore's maintanence procedure and SOP in regards with maintaining their aircrafts. And I think this is the first such reported case of corrosion of the anti-ice start bleed valve (AISBV) that had downed an Apache and Apache was being operated around the globe by many users for some time now... so it couldn't have been a manufacturer fault in this case... design wise, this system is quite sound or we would have seen Apache dropping from the sky in abundance.
MwRYum
Major
If you want to know the SOP and stuff you're out of luck until they release a report on the incidents - SAF is pretty strict about their gagging order, anyone who don't walk along the official line would be pretty screwed...y'know, it's a small country and those who are in-the-know are even smaller bunch, all full-time career personnel, very easy to track who talked to the outside.
That's come from someone who served his fair share of national service.
You right abt that... I actually served the NS in my days too... but i am a pencil pusher (clerk)... I know it is pretty useless to ask for the actual SOP and stuff like that, what I am interested in is, was there actually a SOP and stuff in place?
Why would this cock up happen to one of our most advance piece of equipment?
MwRYum
Major
There're SOP for everything in the SAF, that you should know already.
But that's a "by right" situation which everybody follows the SOP, and you should know there're "by left" way of doing a lot of things as well, too...
If this cockup was because somebody at some point did it "by left", he really put himself in a "LPPL" situation, y'know, especially for something this critical and when such valuable assets are involved, human error gonna be hell to pay.
Well... I hope someone higher up was being punished for this. Because it was always to 'small fly' that got it up their ass, but it should be those higher up that are suppose to ensure SOP was being followed and routine checks should be in place.
This is a major waste of our taxpayer money to buy some ultra-expensive hardware and have them crashed and written off.
This is a major waste of our taxpayer money to buy some ultra-expensive hardware and have them crashed and written off.