Helicopter Flight Information
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Helicopter Flight Information |
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2009 Helicopter Accident Study and AnalysisProfoundly Negligent Accidents During a part 135 training program I was going through, a fellow classmate inquired of the instructor as to what the frequency of emergencies and accidents was. The instructor replied with a simple statement, "If you fly enough hours, you will have emergencies". Having an emergency and/or accident that you can do nothing about, that was unintentional, and truly accidental is one thing, but being blatantly negligent is another thing. Of the 136 accidents I studied for 2009, I ran across the following ten accidents that really blew me away when I read the reports. These accidents demonstrate at least to some degree, the consequence of poor flight instructional qualities and the hand-me-down effect and results. Filing and flying on an IFR flight plan in helicopters not certified for instrument flight. There were two accidents where flight instructors on instructional flights filed and flew on instrument flight plans in aircraft that were not certified for instrument flight. There are really two parties negligent in this matter. First and foremost, the FAA for its vagueness in the FAR's as well as other publications including the AIM, the Instrument flying handbook, etc. Secondly, flight instructors for their ignorant actions, and possible lack of knowledge which is unacceptable as a certified flight instructor. Over Max Gross Aircraft. There were two accidents in which the pilots were flying over the max gross rating for their aircraft. Max Gross is a limitation, yet flying over-gross is common practice even at many flight schools. I rented an aircraft at a large school a couple of years ago, and when I had calculated the weight, I asked one of the the students to put in a specific number of gallons. When I got to the aircraft, it was topped off. I have seen this many times, and when I questioned those involved, they became upset and/or blew off my concerns. Ultimately, this is a training issue; if schools and flight instructors don't stress limitations, students don't learn the importance of them. Pilots exiting running aircraft. There were four accidents where the pilots (the sole occupants of the aircraft) exited the helicopter while it was running. This occurs frequently with all types of helicopters. People have been killed and seriously injured many times as a result of this, yet it is common practice. Fuel Exhaustion. There were three accidents involving fuel exhaustion, only one of which was clearly negligent. Running out of fuel in an aircraft is extremely irresponsible to say the least. You might expect this of a low time pilot or student either in or just out of the training environment, but not an experienced EMS pilot flying a helicopter worth about five million dollars; there is just no excuse for that. Hot Fueling a Piston Helicopter. I have long stressed the importance of not hot fueling piston helicopters or even turbine helicopters if there is any chance of a spill which could be ignited. With regard to piston helicopters, the fuel tank is always located high where a spill would result in a splash on a hot engine. Here is one pilot that I bet will never make this mistake again. During the hot refueling process, fuel was spilled on the aircraft and his body quickly igniting, burning him and destroying the helicopter. Hot fueling should never be done in any aircraft by the pilot if he would need to exit the running aircraft to fuel it himself.
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