Bell Helicopter announced on July 7 it has received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to resume flight testing of its Bell 525 Relentless helicopter following a fatal crash in July 2016 during a trial flight.
The Textron Inc.’s [TXT] Texas-based aircraft Bell may resume testing after it was awarded an experimental certificate renewal from the FAA, an assessment that comes after the aircraft broke up in-flight in 2016 and killed both occupants in the test.
“Bell Helicopter has worked with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and FAA since the accident and we are confident in the resumption of flight test activity,” Bell Helicopter President and CEO Mitch Snyder said in a statement. “The team is focused on certification in 2018 and we are committed to bringing this innovative and high-performing helicopter to market.”
The Bell 525 is the first fly-by-wire commercial helicopter and is designed to decrease pilot workload. It features the first fully-integrated Garmin G5000H touchscreen avionics suite.