Flight Safety Foundation Helicopter Safety 2001

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November–December 2001

AS 350BA Strikes Glacier During Alaskan Air Tour 4 pages. [PDF 41K]

Pilots flying two other helicopters in the area said that they had difficulty differentiating between the overcast sky and the snow-covered terrain and that the ceiling was only a few hundred feet higher than the mountain pass.

September–October 2001

EMS Helicopter Strikes Terrain on Dark, Snowy Night 4 pages. [PDF 34K]

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said that the pilot of the emergency medical services helicopter continued the repositioning flight under visual flight rules in deteriorating instrument meteorological conditions.

July–August 2001

Flight Control System Failure Cited in Fatal Logging Accident 4 pages. [PDF 35K]

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said that the failure of an analog switch caused the automatic flight control system computer to malfunction; as a result, the pilots of the Boeing Vertol Model 234 were unable to counteract a right yaw, and the helicopter struck terrain.

May–June 2001

Helicopter Strikes Terrain During Low-visibility Flight to Mountain Helipad 4 pages. [PDF 85K]

The accident prompted an airworthiness directive from the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority requiring emergency locator transmitters in forward sections of helicopters to be moved to less-vulnerable locations.

March–April 2001

Hughes 369FF Strikes Power Lines During Approach to Landing Site 4 pages. [PDF 52K]

The accident report said that the pilot probably was concentrating on flying the approach and was looking away from the power lines. Because the power lines were not equipped with high-visibility devices, determining the distance between the helicopter and the power lines would have been difficult, the report said.

January–February 2001

Data Show Downward Trends in U.S.-registered Helicopter Accidents in 1991–98 8 pages. [PDF 87K]

An analysis of information gathered by government agencies and a helicopter trade organization shows an average accident rate of 8.74 accidents per 100,000 flight hours during the period and declining trends in the number of accidents and fatal injuries.