COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA (Civil Aviation Regulations 1998), PART 39 - 105 CIVIL AVIATION SAFETY AUTHORITY SCHEDULE OF AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVES Eurocopter AS 350 (Ecureuil) Series Helicopters AD/ECUREUIL/26 Amdt 1 Air Cruisers Emergency Flotation System - Inspection/Modification 4/85 Applicability: All models which have Air Cruisers emergency flotation kits in accordance with FAA STC SH2825SW (Model 350D, D1, C) or STC SH4032SW (Model 350B). Document: Aerospatiale Helicopter Corporation SB350-18. Note: FAA AD 83-11-01 R1 Amdt 39-4959 refers. Compliance: Unless previously accomplished, as detailed in the requirement document. Background: In a recent ditching incident, the right hand Air Cruisers emergency float failed to deploy. Such failure in a future ditching incident could lead to loss of the helicopter and to injury to its occupants or loss of life. A further sampling of AS 350 Air Cruisers emergency flotation system revealed several cases of damaged electrical squib harnesses due to chafing on the float bottle valve assembly side plate and its associated hardware. This chafing could lead to similar incidents.