US Helicopter Safety Team (USHST)
Monthly Safety Report
April 2022
Fatal Accident Rate: 0.8 (+.25) above goal of 0.55 fatal accidents per 100K hrs by 2025
USHST Vision: A Civil Helicopter Community with Zero Fatal Accidents
“Safety by the Numbers” (Monthly Metrics):
Days since last Fatal helicopter accident: 13 Days : 00 Hours : 26 Minutes : 56 Seconds
Fatal Accident Rate (5yr avg)(CY2017-21) 0.75 Fatal Accidents per 100K Flight Hours
Fatal Accident Rate (CY2022) 6 Fatal Accidents per 100K Flight Hours
Loss of Control-Inflight (LOC-I), Unintended Flight into IMC (UIMC), Low Altitude Operations (LALT).
USHST continues to work on the implementation of 16 Helicopter - Safety Enhancements (H-SE) developed through data-driven analysis of 104 fatal accidents. The H-SE’s use Outreach, Policy, Technology/Equipment, and Training to reduce fatal accidents in these categories.
H-SE 19a: Safety Culture and Professionalism
Safety culture is the attitude, beliefs, perceptions, and values individuals share in relation to safety in their operations. The goal of this H-SE is for an effective safety culture to be defined in terms of more tangible concepts for operators and mechanics. It seeks to promote effective safety culture beyond just another executive level philosophy or “binder on a shelf” program to an ingrained daily pattern of behavior for the frontline work force in the helicopter community. An effective safety culture must be relatable to the day-to-day tasks that make up the job function of helicopter professionals.
Through implementation of this H-SE, potentially more individuals can relate to the purpose of an effective safety culture and how they can adapt some reasonable steps in their daily tasks that are consistent with an effective safety culture. This should lead to an increase in sound aeronautical decision making, better judgment in managing risk, and more consistent compliance to rules and regulations established to ensure a safe aviation system.
1. Define safety culture in terms of the individual operator or mechanic (include single pilot, single mechanic, and operation specific considerations).
2. Promote definition of “effective safety culture” as defined in Output 1 of this H-SE.
3. Improve mentoring by engaging operators who have already adopted an effective safety culture and used it to change their operations. Connect these operators with those in the rotorcraft community who need mentoring. The intent is help the individual or organization being mentored to gain the knowledge and skill to establish an effective safety culture in their own operations.
US Helicopter Safety Team Press Release (December 2021):
“56 Seconds to Live” Safety Course Wins AIN 2021 Top Flight Award
Helicopter Safety OUTREACH events:
· USHST All Hands Webinar - 1-3pm EDT, 25 May 2022 Register Here!
Previous All Hands - Meet the VAST Team (February 2022)
· HAI Upcoming Events
JOIN/FOLLOW USHST
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For any questions regarding the information within this notice please contact Clarke Pleasants, Program Chair-Rotor, ERAU, at 928-7774730 or email at william.pleasants@erau.edu
