The International Helicopter Safety Seminar, which took place in Montreal, Canada in September 2005 resolved that the global helicopter industry, facilitated by the American Helicopter Society (AHS International) and the Helicopter Association International (HAI), should set up an International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST) to derive data-driven, prioritised risk-reduction plans from accident and incident studies.

The IHST’s proposed course of action is based on an established airline precedent, the Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST), but there have been a number of regional safety-improvement programmes in different parts of the world that adopted a similar methodology and have also been successful. These, listed according to the date the studies began, include:

  • 1997: the USA’s CAST derived a data-driven set of priorities for airline safety improvement, dubbed the Safer Skies Agenda. The greatest threats were deemed to be controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) and the resulting need for terrain awareness warning systems (TAWS); loss of control; uncontained engine failures; runway incursion; approach and landing accidents, and weather.
  • 1997: the Capstone Project was sparked by FAA concern at the accident rate among light transport aircraft operating under Part 91 or Part 135 regulations in areas of Alaska where terrain and weather are challenging and radar coverage non-existent. Because Capstone addresses small operators mostly using small aircraft, its success in developing low-cost solutions to complex safety problems may be particularly relevant for the helicopter industry, which largely comprises small operators. The first of three regional phases, concentrating on the Yukon delta region, was completed last year. It focused on basic, affordable deliverables: use of GPS for augmented navigational accuracy; fitting aircraft with navigation displays with simplified TAWS; improving meteorological data accessibility; and use of airborne automatic dependent surveillance – broadcast (ADS-B) to aid flight tracking and air traffic control.
  • 1998: Europe’s Joint Aviation Authorities Safety Strategy Initiative (JSSI). Similar to CAST, but focused on European regional priorities. Additional needs identified included: more comprehensive flightcrew training; flight data monitoring; improved new aircraft design, including a requirement for vertical situation displays, flight envelope protection and better warning systems.
  • 2000: a pilot-led initiative gave birth to the Pan American Aviation Safety Team, which focuses on operations in Latin America and the Caribbean. This is also based on CAST and shares most of the same priorities, including putting CFIT elimination at the top of its list.
  • 2006: at the 26-28 February Heli-Expo, Dallas, USA, the IHST will announce full details of its Joint Helicopter Safety Analysis Team to determine the deliverable priorities for a programme to reduce the world rotary wing accident rate by 80% by 2015. A Joint Helicopter Safety Implementation Team will then devise the optimum implementation process.

Source: Flight International

Topics