Flight Safety Foundation Helicopter Safety 2005-2006

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January–February 2006

Helicopter Strikes Terrain During Departure in Whiteout 6 pages. [PDF 237K]

The fatal accident in northern Canada led to the operator’s increased use of full-motion flight-simulator training to replicate whiteout conditions.

November–December 2005

Inconsistent Placement of External-cargo Release Switches Can Hinder Emergency Landings 4 pages. [PDF 72K]

In its final report on the fatal accident of a Bell 204B during a fire fighting flight, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said that the absence of a standard location for the external-cargo release switch ‘increases the risk of pilot confusion during an emergency.’

September–October 2005

Investigation of R44 Accident Focuses on Weight and Balance 4 pages [PDF 84K]

There was no record that weight-and-balance calculations were performed after the passengers changed their seating assignments for the second leg of the charter flight in Australia. The helicopter was overweight and had a forward center of gravity when it struck terrain.

July–August 2005

Spatial Disorientation Cited in EMS Loss-of-control Accident 8 pages. [PDF 209K]

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau says that circumstances of the Bell 407 accident ‘combined most of the risk factors known for many years to be associated with helicopter emergency medical services accidents,’ including the pilot’s inexperience with long overwater night flights and the prevailing dark-night conditions.

May–June 2005

Failed Hydraulic System Cited in Uncontrolled Descent of AS 350 4 pages. [PDF 83K]

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said that, while the pilot was maneuvering the helicopter to land at a remote logging site, he might have encountered control forces ‘too extreme to overcome,’ which made impossible a return to level flight.

March–April 2005

Bell 206L-3 Strikes Water While Maneuvering To Land on Offshore Platform in IMC 4 pages. [PDF 106K]

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said that the 18,913-hour commercial pilot was unable to control the helicopter after weather conditions deteriorated during a flight over the Gulf of Mexico.

January–February 2005

Loss of Tail-rotor Effectiveness Cited in Bell 206B Accident During Videotaping Flight 6 pages. [PDF 117K]

The Irish Air Accident Investigation Unit said that the pilot was unaware of the phenomenon of loss of tail-rotor effectiveness (LTE). Printed information on LTE was sent to the operator before the accident but was not distributed to the appropriate pilots.