Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, announced that it is increasing the scheduled inspection intervals for S-92® helicopters from 375 flight hours to 500 hours, and from 750 flight hours to 1,000 hours. By increasing these intervals, average S-92 operators will be able to safely keep aircraft in service longer between inspections, mitigating downtime and maximizing availability for the fleet.

This enhancement will eliminate more than a full year of downtime caused by inspections, as S-92 operators will now be relieved of the requirement to conduct up to 30 inspections over the course of the aircraft’s 30,000 flight hour lifespan. By leveraging 20 years’ worth of maintenance data collected from more than 300 aircraft and 2.4 million flight hours, Sikorsky developed a methodology to safely and confidently allow continued fleet operation beyond the current limits. The maintenance data was supplied to and jointly analyzed by the S-92 Maintenance Review Steering Group, a composition of the world’s largest S-92 fleet operators who actively collaborate to enhance aircraft safety and reliability.

“Increasing inspection intervals for the S-92 is a major victory for operators striving to mitigate downtime and maximize fleet availability, and a testament of the commitment to safety and innovation that Sikorsky champions,” said Leon Silva, vice president of Sikorsky’s Global Commercial and Military Systems. “This is yet another example of Sikorsky’s continued investment in the S-92 platform, and we are thrilled to see it help customers perform against some of the biggest challenges in the world.”