Federal Aviation Administration U.S. Rotorcraft Accident
Data and Statistics
Presented to: 2012 FAA/Industry Safety Forum
By: Lee Roskop, Operations Research Analyst
Date: Jan 2012
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273
252259
221213
171
184
199
222
186 186177
205
157167
149
168
187194
175
190
205
170
154
170
141149
134127
42
3139 41 42
2919
3429
35 37 3641
25 29 2631 33 33
28 25
3832
24 25 24
35
1928
18
185
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11
Calendar Year
Ac
cid
en
ts
Accidents Per Year Fatal Accidents Per Year
U.S. Registered Rotorcraft Accidents
30 Year History: 1982-2011
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175
190
205
170
185
170
134
28 2538
3224 25 24
35
1928
149154
141
0
50
100
150
200
250
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
Calendar Year
Accid
en
ts
Accidents Per Year Fatal Accidents Per Year
U.S. Registered Rotorcraft Accidents
Focus on 10 Year History: 2001-2010
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Progressing from accident totals to
accident rates requires flight hours.
The FAA’s General Aviation and Part 135
Activity Survey is the source for U.S.
rotorcraft flight hour estimates used
calculations used in this presentation.
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8.14
10.139.60
6.71
6.05
4.47
5.24
4.384.96
3.94
1.30 1.331.78
1.260.79 0.73 0.74
1.090.63 0.82
0.00
2.00
4.00
6.00
8.00
10.00
12.00
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
Calendar Year
Ac
cid
en
ts
Accidents Rate per 100,000 Hours Fatal Accident Rate Per 100,000 Hours
U.S. Registered Rotorcraft Accidents
Estimated Accident Rates: 2001-2010
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8.14
10.139.60
6.71
6.05
4.47
5.24
4.384.96
3.94
1.30 1.331.78
1.260.79 0.73 0.74
1.090.63 0.82
0.00
2.00
4.00
6.00
8.00
10.00
12.00
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
Calendar Year
Ac
cid
en
ts
Accidents Rate per 100,000 Hours Fatal Accident Rate Per 100,000 Hours
U.S. Registered Rotorcraft Accidents
Estimated Accident Rates: 2001-2010 Start of IHST initiative and goal to
reduce accident rate 80% in 10 years
*
IHST’s goal is a rate of 1.8 by 2016.
2006 – 2010: IHST was analysis centered
2011 – 2015: IHST is implementation
centered
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What are the usual environmental
conditions for rotorcraft accidents?
• Based on NTSB data for U.S. rotorcraft
accidents from 2001-2010:
Over 88% occur in daylight conditions
Over 95% occur in VMC
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What industry sectors result in the
most rotorcraft accidents?
Helicopter EMS?
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What industry sectors result in the
most rotorcraft accidents?
Helicopter EMS?
Air Tour?
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What industry sectors result in the
most rotorcraft accidents?
Helicopter EMS?
Air Tour?
Offshore?
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What industry sectors result in the
most rotorcraft accidents?
Helicopter EMS?
Air Tour?
Offshore?
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External Load 1.9%6 Other Categories
1.5% Aerial Observation
3.3%
Business 4.7%
Positioning 4.9%
Other Work 7.4%
EMS 7.8%
Public Use 7.8%
Instruction/Training
21.7%
Personal/Private
20.0%
Not Categorized 9.3%
Aerial Application
8.2%
Flight Test 1.4%
Rotorcraft Accidents by NTSB Classification 10 Years from CY01 to CY10 – 1,672 Accidents
Personal/Private 20.0%
External Load 1.9% Aerial Observation 3.3%
Business 4.7%
Positioning 4.9%
Other Work 7.4%
EMS 7.8%
Public Use 7.8%
Aerial Application 8.2%
Instruction/Training 21.7%
Flight Test 1.4%
Not Categorized 9.3%
6 Other Categories 1.5%
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Personal/Private 18.5%
Instructional/Training
17.6%
Aerial Application 10.3%
Emergency Medical
Services 7.6%
Commercial 7.5%
Law Enforcement 6.5%
Air Tour / Sightseeing
5.9%
Business 4.8%
Aerial Observation 4.2%
Offshore 4.2%
Firefighting 3.6%
Electronic News
Gathering 1.7%
Utilities
Patrol/Construction 2.1%
External Load 2.7%
Logging 2.7%
IHST’s Analysis of U.S. Accidents CYs 2000, 2001, 2006 – 523 accidents
Personal/Private 18.5%
Instruction/Training
17.6%
Aerial Application 10.3%
Commercial 7.5%
Law Enforcement
6.5%
Electronic News
Gathering 1.7%
External Load 2.7%
Utilities
Patrol/Construction 2.1%
Emergency Medical
Services 7.6%
Aerial Observation 4.2%
Firefighting 3.6%
Offshore 4.2%
Logging 2.7%
Air Tour / Sightseeing 5.9%
Business 4.8%
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Personal/Private 27.6%
Instructional/Training
18.9%
Aerial Application 18.9%
Commercial 11.0%
Emergency Medical
Services 6.3%
Firefighting 0.8%
Aerial Observation 4.7%
Law Enforcement 3.1%
Offshore 0.8%
Business 1.6%
Air Tour / Sightseeing
1.6%
Utilities
Patrol/Construction 2.4%
External Load 2.4%
2011 Analysis of U.S. Accidents
Personal/Private 27.6%
Instruction/Training
18.9%
Aerial Application 18.9%
Commercial 11.0%
Law Enforcement 3.1%
External Load 2.4%
Utilities
Patrol/Construction 2.4%
Emergency Medical
Services 6.3%
Aerial Observation 4.7%
Firefighting 0.8% Offshore 0.8%
Air Tour / Sightseeing 1.6%
Business 1.6%
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Hopefully the last few slides left you with a
better impression than this…
…but percentage of accidents within each
industry sector is only half of the story.
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Personal/Private
Accidents Compared to Flight Hours U.S. Personal/Private Helicopter Accidents and Flight Hours
3%
6% 6%
4% 4% 4% 4% 4% 4% 4%
18%
20%19%
20%19%
20% 20%21%
22% 22%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
% of Rotorcraft Hours % of Rotorcraft Accidents
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Instruction/Training
Accidents Compared to Flight Hours
U.S. Instructional/Training Helicopter Accidents and Flight Hours
11%9% 10%
13%12%
20%
16%18%
16% 16%
21% 21%
18%
24% 24%
20%
31%
16%
24%
17%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
% of Rotorcraft Hours % of Rotorcraft Accidents
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Aerial Application
Accidents Compared to Flight Hours
U.S. Aerial Application Helicopter Accidents and Flight Hours
8%7% 7%
5% 5%4%
5%4% 4% 4%
8% 8%9%
8% 8%
3%
5%
10%
7%
18%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
20%
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
% of Rotorcraft Hours % of Rotorcraft Accidents
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HEMS
Accidents Compared to Flight Hours
U.S. EMS Helicopter Accidents and Flight Hours
12%
14% 14%15%
16%15%
9%
13%
10%
14%
8%7%
9%8% 8% 8%
6%
9%
6%
10%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
% of Rotorcraft Hours % of Rotorcraft Accidents
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Accident rate comparison
HEMS 2001 – 2010
3.9 accidents per 100,000 flight hours
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HEMS 2001 – 2010
3.9 accidents per 100,000 flight hours
Personal/Private 2001 – 2010
29.6 accidents per 100,000 flight hours
Accident rate comparison
Over 7 Times Higher than
Helicopter EMS
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Another approach to examining
rotorcraft accident trends:
Cro Amsaa
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Cro Amsaa Analysis
The value of Beta tells a story about the safety of our system
If Beta = 1: safety of the system is not changing
If Beta > 1: failures occurring faster
If Beta < 1: failures occurring slower
All Accidents CY 01 - 10
All Accidents CY 01 - 05
All Accidents CY 06 - 10
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Cro Amsaa Analysis
Bottom line:
Overall, the safety of our system got slightly better from 2001 to 2010.
Comparatively,
2001 to 2005: system safety was stagnant to slightly deteriorating
2006 to 2010: system safety was improving
All Accidents CY 01 - 10
All Accidents CY 01 - 05
All Accidents CY 06 - 10
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Cro Amsaa – All Rotorcraft Accidents
Our Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) offers further confirmation of a
system that is trending toward better safety the last 5 years:
Note the increase in the MTBF for 2006 to 2010 in comparison to 2001
to 2005.
All Accidents CY 06 - 10
All Accidents CY 01 - 05
All Accidents CY 01 - 10
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Cro Amsaa - Only Personal/Private
Personal/Private Accidents CY 01 - 10
Personal/Private Accidents CY 01 - 05
Personal/Private Accidents CY 06 - 10
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Cro Amsaa - Only Personal/Private
Although the Personal/Private sector improved from 2006 to 2010, the
sector still lags behind the beta of the overall system for every block of
years examined.
Beta values of overall
system during same
block of years
0.938
1.026
0.849
Personal/Private Accidents CY 01 - 10
Personal/Private Accidents CY 01 - 05
Personal/Private Accidents CY 06 - 10
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Cro Amsaa - Only Personal/Private
Using MTBF as a measurement, Personal/Private improved from 2006 to
2010 as compared to 2001 to 2005.
Personal/Private Accidents CY 01 –
10c Personal/Private Accidents CY 01 - 05
Personal/Private Accidents CY 06 - 10
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Cro Amsaa - Only Personal/Private
The Personal/Private MTBF did improve by 2.5 days from 2006 to 2010 as
compared to 2001 to 2005.
Personal/Private Accidents CY 01 - 10
Personal/Private Accidents CY 01 - 05
Personal/Private Accidents CY 06 - 10
But the MTBFs don’t
compare favorably to
other industry sectors,
e.g. HEMS.
HEMS MTBF CY 01 – 10:
HEMS MTBF CY 01 – 05:
HEMS MTBF CY 06 – 10:
30.23
25.05
31.35
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Gathering data on U.S. rotorcraft can be
difficult, but we’re not so desperate that
we’ve resorted to this technique yet.
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What do we know about
Personal/Private rotorcraft accidents?
• The IHST’s study of 523 U.S. accidents across 3
years provides the most complete analysis of:
– What happened (Occurrence Categories)
– Why it happened (Problem Statements)
– How it could have been prevented (Intervention
Recommendations)
• The next several slides will look specifically at
these areas for the 97 Personal/Private accidents
(18.5% of the 523 total accidents) in the IHST’s U.S.
data set.
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Personal/Private Accidents: Occurrence Categories tell “What happened?”
Note: During the IHST analysis, each accident could be placed in multiple occurrence
categories, so the percentages shown are not intended to sum to 100%.
12%
21%
23%
27%
41%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%
Fuel Related
Struck an Object
System Component Failure
Autorotation
Loss of Control
Percentage of Personal/Private Accidents (97 accidents)
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Personal/Private Accidents:
More about “Loss of Control”
• Loss of control occurrences were further
divided into more specific sub-areas.
• For Personal/Private, the Loss of Control
sub-areas most frequently cited were (in
descending order):
– Performance Management
– Exceeded Operating Limits
– Lost Tail Rotor Authority
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Personal/Private Accidents:
Problem Statements tell “Why did it happen?”
Note: During the IHST analysis, each accident could be assigned multiple problem
statements, so the percentages shown are not intended to sum to 100%.
23%
34%
41%
43%
90%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Part/system failure
Pilot Situational Awareness
Ground Duties
Safety Management
Pilot judgment & actions
Percentage of Personal/Private Accidents (97 accidents)
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Personal/Private Accidents:
Problem Statements tell “Why did it happen?”
Note: During the IHST analysis, each accident could be assigned multiple problem
statements, so the percentages shown are not intended to sum to 100%.
23%
34%
41%
43%
90%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Part/system failure
Pilot Situational Awareness
Ground Duties
Safety Management
Pilot judgment & actions
Percentage of Personal/Private Accidents (97 accidents)
For purposes of this presentation we
will take a closer look at just a couple of
the problem statements.
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Personal/Private Accidents: Further details for selected problem statements
• “Pilot Judgment & Actions” problems most
frequently occurred in the following sub-areas:
– Decision Making, Landing Procedures, Procedure
Implementation, Flight Profile
• “Pilot Situational Awareness” problems most
frequently occurred in the following sub-areas:
– Awareness of External Environment, Awareness of
Visibility/Weather, Awareness of Internal Aircraft Issues
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Personal/Private Accidents:
Intervention Recommendations tell “How it
could have been prevented”
Note: During the IHST analysis, each accident could be assigned multiple intervention
recommendations, so percentages aren't intended to sum to 100%.
20%
29%
35%
62%
87%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Maintenance
Regulatory
Systems and Equipment
Safety Management
Training/Instructional
Percentage of Personal/Private Accidents (97 Accidents)
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Personal/Private Accidents:
Intervention Recommendations tell “How it
could have been prevented”
Note: During the IHST analysis, each accident could be assigned multiple intervention
recommendations, so percentages aren't intended to sum to 100%.
20%
29%
35%
62%
87%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Maintenance
Regulatory
Systems and Equipment
Safety Management
Training/Instructional
Percentage of Personal/Private Accidents (97 Accidents)
For purposes of this presentation we
will take a closer look at only Systems
and Equipment recommendations.
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Personal/Private Accidents: A closer look at the top “Systems and
Equipment” intervention recommendations
• Post Incident Survivability – Crash resistant fuel systems
– Install Wire Strike Protection System
– Improve helicopter specific ELT practices/standards
• Situational Awareness Enhancers – Install proximity detection system
– Wire detection system for low altitude operations
• Cockpit Indication/Warning – Automate carburetor anti-ice function or early warning alert
– Fuel system status
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The first recorded incident of a pilot
choosing to ignore statistical data at
the risk of his crew and passengers
happened a long time ago…
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…in a galaxy far, far away. But sir, the possibility
of successfully
navigating an asteroid
field is approximately
3,720 to 1!!
Never tell me the odds!!
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What do we know about
Instructional/Training Accidents?
• Second highest number of accidents of any
industry sector studied by the IHST’s review
of U.S. helicopter accidents
• 92 accidents in Instructional Training
– 17.6% of the 523 total accidents studied
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Instructional/Training Accidents:
Occurrence Categories tell “What happened?”
Note: During the IHST analysis, each accident could be placed in multiple occurrence
categories, so the percentages shown are not intended to sum to 100%.
9%
15%
17%
54%
61%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Landing Zone
System Component Failure
Abnormal Runway Contact
Autorotation
Loss of Control
Percentage of Instructional/Training Accidents (92 accidents)
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Instructional/Training Accidents:
More about “Loss of Control”
• Loss of control occurrences were further
divided into more specific sub-areas.
• For Instructional/Training, the Loss of
Control sub-areas most frequently cited
were (in descending order):
– Performance Management
– Interference with Controls
– Dynamic Rollover
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Instructional/Training Accidents:
Problem Statements tell “Why did it happen?”
Note: During the IHST analysis, each accident could be assigned multiple problem
statements, so the percentage shown are not intended to sum to 100%
17%
20%
20%
54%
93%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Part/system failure
Pilot Situational Awareness
Ground Duties
Safety Management
Pilot judgment & actions
Percentage of Instructional/Training Accidents (92 accidents)
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Instructional/Training Accidents:
Problem Statements tell “Why did it happen?”
Note: During the IHST analysis, each accident could be assigned multiple problem
statements, so the percentage shown are not intended to sum to 100%
17%
20%
20%
54%
93%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Part/system failure
Pilot Situational Awareness
Ground Duties
Safety Management
Pilot judgment & actions
Percentage of Instructional/Training Accidents (92 accidents)
For purposes of this presentation we
will take a closer look at just a couple of
the problem statements.
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Instructional/Training Accidents: Further details for selected problem statements
• “Pilot Judgment & Actions” problems most frequently occurred in the following sub-areas: – Procedure Implementation, Landing Procedures,
Crew Resource Management, Decision Making
• “Pilot Situational Awareness” problems most frequently occurred in the following sub-areas: – Awareness of External Environment
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Instructional/Training Accidents:
Intervention Recommendations tell “How it
could have been prevented”
Note: During the IHST analysis, each accident could be assigned multiple intervention
recommendations, so percentages aren't intended to sum to 100%
8%
8%
15%
57%
92%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Regulatory
Maintenance
Systems and Equipment
Safety Management
Training/Instructional
Percentage of Instructional/Training Accidents (92 Accidents)
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Instructional/Training Accidents:
Intervention Recommendations tell “How it
could have been prevented”
Note: During the IHST analysis, each accident could be assigned multiple intervention
recommendations, so percentages aren't intended to sum to 100%
8%
8%
15%
57%
92%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Regulatory
Maintenance
Systems and Equipment
Safety Management
Training/Instructional
Percentage of Instructional/Training Accidents (92 Accidents)
For purposes of this presentation we
will take a closer look at only Systems
and Equipment recommendations.
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Instructional/Training Accidents: A closer look at the top “Systems and
Equipment” intervention recommendations
• Post Incident Survivability – Crash resistant fuel systems
– Install Wire Strike Protection System
• Cockpit Warning/Indication – Install low rotor warning
– Provide power available versus power required indicator
– Low airspeed indicator warning
• Situational Awareness Enhancers – Wire detection system for low altitude operations
– Automatic hover recovery system
– Proximity detection system
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The IHST study of U.S. rotorcraft
accidents went quite a bit deeper than
this.
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What do we know about Aerial
Application Accidents?
• Third highest number of accidents of any industry sector studied by the IHST’s review of U.S. helicopter accidents.
• 54 accidents in Aerial Application – 10.3% of the 523 total accidents studied
• Despite trailing Personal/Private and Instructional/Training in the IHST study’s percentage of total accidents, concerns in this industry sector are growing.
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Percentage of Aerial Application
Helicopter Accidents – Last 5 Years
5%
10%
7%
18%19%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
20%
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
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5%
10%
7%
18%19%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
20%
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Percentage of Aerial Application
Helicopter Accidents – Last 5 Years Percentages the last 2 years are comparable to
Personal/Private. Also, like Personal/Private, the
flight hour exposure level is relatively low.
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Knowing when U.S. Aerial Application
rotorcraft accidents are more likely to
occur does not require much
guessing…
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Aerial Application Accidents by Month:
10 years from 2001-2010
3% 4% 4% 4%
10% 10%
30%
11%
15%
4%3%
1%0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
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Aerial Application Accidents by Month:
10 years from 2001-2010
3% 4% 4% 4%
10% 10%
30%
11%
15%
4%3%
1%0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
76% of accidents during 6
month peak U.S. growing
season of May - Sep
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Future challenges – what to do now?
• Personal/Private, Instructional/Training, and Aerial Application pose unique problems
• Difficult population of operators to reach – Not likely to attend major industry or government safety forums
– Less awareness/exposure to industry-wide safety initiatives and best practices
• Small fleet sizes, often just 1 aircraft
• Have to convince them of the benefits to make any change – Must be low cost or no cost
– Must make the case that it will show immediate results
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The goals set by the rotorcraft community for
reductions in U.S. rotorcraft accidents will
require no higher than single digit annual
accident totals in each industry sector of
Personal/Private, Instructional/Training, and
Aerial Application.
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The goals set by the rotorcraft community for
reductions in U.S. rotorcraft accidents will
require no higher than single digit annual
accident totals in each industry sector of
Personal/Private, Instructional/Training, and
Aerial Application.
This is where we stood at the end of 2011:
So, there is some work to be done.
Personal/Private: 35 accidents
Instructional/Training: 24 accidents
Aerial Application: 24 accidents
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Difficult problems sometimes lead to
a new level of cooperation and
innovation to find a solution….
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…the results may
surprise everyone.
Difficult problems sometimes lead to
a new level of cooperation and
innovation to find a solution….
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If you found the portions of this
presentation that referenced the work
by the IHST useful, please go to the
following address for more
information, including detailed
analysis reports:
www.ihst.org