New data released by the International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST) shows that the total number of civil helicopter accidents in the U.S. has declined since 2009. During the three-year period from 2007 to 2009, there were 466 helicopter accidents in the country. For the past three years, from 2010 through 2012, there were 411 U.S. accidents. However, the data also shows that the number of helicopter accidents involving personal/private flying increased during the same time period. Within the 2007-09 span, 21 percent of total U.S.
AINsafety
March 4, 2013 - 1:05pm
The cause of the February 22 crash of a Eurocopter AS 350 operated by EagleMed is still under investigation. Two of three people on board–the pilot and a flight nurse–died in the 5:45 a.m. crash near Wiley Post Airport (PWA). Witnesses pulled the accident’s lone survivor from the wreckage before a fire destroyed the remainder of the machine, which was on an emergency medical mission.
March 4, 2013 - 1:00pm
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said that while the continent’s accident rate has remained more or less under control, the agency remains concerned about its ability to maintain the current level of safety when traffic is expected to nearly double by 2030.
March 4, 2013 - 12:57pm
Despite the first day of spring being just a few weeks away, encounters with icing at altitude still represent a very real problem. Responsibility for understanding the intricacies of ice formation, as well as how to exit an area of icing before a loss of aircraft control occurs, still falls on the cockpit crew. Here are some valuable icing resources that are easily accessed from any Internet connection that are worth bookmarking for next year’s season.
March 4, 2013 - 12:55pm
Sound training can make all the difference to the prospects of passengers and crew surviving when an aircraft has to ditch in water. In the latest edition of AIN sister publication Business Jet Traveler Mark Phelps looked at the difference that training with specialists such as Survival Systems USA can make.
March 4, 2013 - 12:50pm
The FAA is urging pilots to spend training time focusing on an updated Advisory Circular 70-2A, which deals with what the agency says is “a significant increase in the unauthorized laser illumination of aircraft.” The AC provides guidance to both aircrews and air traffic controllers about formal reporting of laser illumination incidents. Pointing a laser at an aircraft in the U.S.
March 4, 2013 - 12:45pm
U.S. government budget sequestration is expected to be a significant issue for the FAA going forward, according to John Duncan, deputy director of Flight Standards. Speaking at the Air Charter Safety Foundation’s Safety Symposium on February 27, he said the agency has had to look where cuts could be achieved without compromising safety. “We had to look at cuts in a number of areas,” Duncan told the group.
February 25, 2013 - 10:28am
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has confirmed that the February 20 crash of a Beech Premier IA at Thomson-McDuffie County Airport (HQU) in Georgia (30 miles west of Augusta) occurred as the jet attempted to go around and did not involve a runway overrun, as local officials had initially reported. Five of the seven people aboard the aircraft were killed. Both pilots survived, suffering serious injuries.
February 25, 2013 - 10:22am
Methods for ensuring pilot competence are high on the list of necessary requirements to improve global pilot training, which has been an industry hot button since the crashes of Continental 3407 and Air France 447. “Graduation from a flight training program does not end a pilot’s learning nor does [earning] a license or rating necessarily demonstrate a pilot’s true level of competence,” said Robert Barnes, president of the International Association of Flight Training Professionals (IAFTP).
February 25, 2013 - 10:15am
A recent research study concluded that 1 in every 60 passengers who climb aboard a regional airliner will strike his head on the cabin entryway, while 1 in every 141 will sustain some sort of head injury when he does. Regional airliner doorways are typically much shorter than those employed on larger transport-category aircraft.
