When I was asked to put pen to paper for this article, I was delighted that I would have the opportunity to increase the safety outreach outside of the US and share the initiatives we believe will achieve our vision and goals, so that others may benefit. I hope all the pilots that I helped train at Bristow Academy (2005-2016) in Florida will now benefit from our safety enhancements and initiatives here in the US and ‘Keep it in the Green’. 

The mission at hand

The USHST is a volunteer team of US government and industry stakeholders formed to improve the safety of civil helicopter operations in the US National Airspace System. The USHST is a partner of the Vertical Aviation Safety Team (VAST). Our vision is a civil US registered helicopter community with zero fatal accidents.

Through data-driven accident and flight safety data analyses, the USHST’s mission is to understand the US helicopter community safety issues and promote the development and implementation of voluntary, consensus-based risk mitigations.

The USHST adopts goals of achieving specific reductions in the civil US registered helicopter fatal accident rate (e.g., percentage) over specified periods. The current goal is to reduce the US helicopter five-year average fatal accident rate to 0.55 (per 100,000 flight hours) by 2025 (five years). There is still some way to go as the CY 2018-2022 five-year average fatal accident rate was 0.8 per 100,000 hours through to July 2022.

The USHST promotes Helicopter Safety Enhancements (H-SEs) using data-driven fatal accident analysis to focus on the areas of outreach, policy, training, technology, and equipment. We intend to undertake new safety initiatives in 2023 to continue addressing the high-risk areas that result in fatal accidents.

As shown by our organization, we focus outreach to the various industry sectors through mechanisms such as HAI’s working groups and the functional teams to ensure connectivity to several high interest industry sectors. We strive to keep our efforts up to date and data driven through monthly and annual reviews of the US fatal accident data. Our analysis team tracks the trends using the internationally recognized CAST/ICAO Common Taxonomy Team’s Aviation Occurrence Category methodology.

Implementation work continues on H-SEs with outputs still open.  There are currently nine of 16 H-SEs completed. Once completed, each H-SE remains in outreach status. Here are the outstanding H-SE’s still being worked:

While the USHST team includes the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and recently the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), it should be noted that we are not a rule making body. Our aim is to analyze data, identify the highest risk areas, and develop voluntary measures for the helicopter community to use to improve safety. The USHST is partnered with VAST, formerly the International Helicopter Safety Team/Foundation (IHST/IHSF), to develop a prototype for a safety rating system for helicopter design and equipment. The USHST has numerous participants attached to this effort, and the overarching idea is to promote aircraft features, whether avionics or otherwise, that help prevent the accident sequence or increase the probability of surviving if an accident occurs.

We are very focused on unintended (or inadvertent) flight into cloud (IMC) and an initiative launched by a powerful video named ‘56 Seconds to Live’. In fact, highlighting a collaborative effort between the US Helicopter Safety Team (USHST), Helicopter Association International (HAI) and VAST, Aviation International News (AIN) awarded the ‘56 Seconds to Live’ safety course with a 2021 Top-Flight Award. The USHST has found that US accident statistics reveal a helicopter pilot who unintentionally continues VFR flight into IMC will very likely lose control of the aircraft and be dead within a median time of 56 seconds. Joining with industry stakeholders, we are doing everything we can to reverse this alarming and unacceptable trend.

The companion course, a follow-up to ‘56 Seconds to Live’, focuses on unintended flight into instrument meteorological conditions (UIMC). The one-hour scenario-based training teaches pilots to recognize situations that can lead to UIMC and stop a flight before an accident occurs via sound aeronautical decision-making (ADM). Included in the course is a simulated-accident video and four alternate scenarios demonstrating examples of ADM that would have prevented the accident. Interested pilots can access the program through the USHST’s training course introduction page at www.ushst.org or through HAI Online Academy at www.rotor.org/academy.  Please take advantage of this free safety advice. You never know, it may save your life.

In closing, I would reiterate that it takes all of us to change the safety culture in the industry, whatever country we fly in. I know that those of you who graduated from organized flight schools have a good grounding in safety culture and will always do the right thing even when you think nobody is watching. Please take advantage of the H-SEs developed by the USHST and spread the word to others who may not know of these initiatives. 

Visit www.ushst.org to continue the safety journey and remember to always ‘Keep it in the Green’ out there.

The US Helicopter Safety Team (USHST) is working with the Vertical Aviation Safety Team (VAST) (previously known as the International Helicopter Safety Foundation) have produced a set of Helicopter Safety Enhancements (HSEs) resulting in a separate list of technologies. This compliments EASA’s Rotorcraft Safety Roadmap launched in 2018 to improve small helicopter includes several chapters addressing technology. It builds on the NLR/EHEST report and introduces the concepts of Net Safety Benefit and Safety Rating Scheme. The purpose of this paper is to extract and group the common technology elements and concepts in these various studies. This list is focused on accident prevention measures and intentionally filters crash survivability measures. Crash survivability remains a concern, but one to be addressed separately.

Automatic Flight Control Systems (AFCS) with attitude recovery mode for regaining or maintaining control in reduced visibility conditions or UIMC situations, enhancing situational awareness and reducing pilot workload. AFCS can potentially meet the IFR certification stability requirements and achieve part of the requirement needed for an airframe IFR STC. (ESPN-R, EASA Safety Roadmap and HSE-70)

Data-derived terrain and obstacle detection systems use predicted horizontal and vertical flight path to alert pilots of potential impact with terrain, water, and obstacles. Helicopter Terrain Alerting and Warning System (HTAWS) has become the generic nomenclature for these systems, however Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) serves a similar function. A critically important feature of these systems for helicopter operations is manual and automatic vehicle operation mode selections to aid in the elimination of nuisance alerts (ESPN-R, EASA Safety Roadmap and HSE-91)

Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) are generally incorporated into the pilot’s primary flight display (PFD) and feature large format attitude indicator with overlaid terrain, obstacle database information along with data-link weather display and traffic relative to the aircraft. SVS should not be confused with Enhanced Vision Systems (EVS), also a potential safety-enhancing technology but generally installed for increased low visibility mission capability (ESPN-R, EASA Safety Roadmap and HSE-91)

Note: Integrated as a system, SVS, HTAWS and AFCS with intuitive pilot interface can greatly reduce the potential of fatal accidents in the LOC-I, LALT, UIMC and CFIT categories. Group I technologies, combined with technologies from groups II and III along with vigorous crew training programs have the potential to reduce all helicopter risk factors.

Cost-Effective IFR Certification for new production and existing lower cost helicopters capitalizing on multiple technologies, improved vehicle and power plant reliability and helicopter specific IFR infrastructure. Such vehicles could reduce fatalities in the UIMC and LOC-I categories, reduce the exposure to hazardous ‘scud running’ operations and assist in the needed IFR-helicopter pilot culture shift via affordable Supplemental Type Certificates for existing smaller, more affordable helicopters

ADS-B “Out” and “In” for onboard weather and collision avoidance and recommendation that all helicopters be equipped standard with fixed transponder-based, 24-digit address 1090ES ADS-B ‘out’

Note: Recommend ICAO-EASA level ADS-B “In” standards development to accelerate use of the mature and emerging capabilities of this technology in all helicopters.

Support of “e-Conspicuity” Initiative intended to equip other aircraft with 1090 MHz ADS-B transmitter/receivers (including UAS, gliders and potentially anything penetrating navigable airspace). These devices are increasingly small, lightweight, low-cost and hold promise for proliferation

Air Data Sensing Systems capable of determining precise wind information regardless of an aircraft’s situation. When integrated into a display or audio alert, the systems can provide Vortex Ring State envelope warning/protection and also enhance the accuracy of take-off and landing performance calculations

Active Terrain, Obstacle and Traffic Detection using sensors to actively and reliably monitor a protected area around the vehicle detecting wires, birds, unmanned aerial systems (UAS) cranes and other non-database obstacles

Lightweight Health and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS) warning systems - Due to cost, weight and complexity, HUMS installations have been limited to transport helicopters and as an expensive option on Part 27 aircraft. However, anticipated technological advances in wireless technology and the miniaturization of sensors may enable development of low-cost HUMS capable of predicting imminent SCFPP (System/Component Failure – Powerplant) and SCF-NP (System/Component Failure – Non-Powerplant) events in all classes of helicopters. Refining the capability and human interface of such systems could lead to integration of HUMS information. into pilot displays allowing for in-flight systems and component monitoring.

App-based ‘Smart’ Flight Risk Assessment Tool (FRAT) integrated with flight operations and real-time meteorological data can enhance mission risk analysis with minimal subjective pilot input. When connected to operational control personnel, such a system can enhance the risk assessment, awareness and risk mitigation processes. (ESPN-R, EASA Safety Roadmap and EASA GA Safety Roadmap)

Flight Simulation Training Devices - Helicopter (FSTD-H) – developing, deploying and actively using high fidelity Full Flight Simulators (FFS), Flight Training Devices (FTD) and Flight and Navigation Procedures Trainer (FNPT) to reduce the risk of training accidents and improve airman preparedness. Includes Virtual Reality (motion) simulation, one of the pillars of the EASA Rotorcraft Safety Roadmap. (ESPN-R, EASA Safety Roadmap and HSE-81)

Flight Briefing/Preparation/Debriefing app/software applications designed to improve pilot and dispatcher preflight awareness of current and developing flight conditions, airspace advisories, hazards along the intended route and real-time advisories

Helicopter Flight Data Monitoring Systems (HFDM) including standards for low-cost devices capable of recording audio, video, multi-axis acceleration, aircraft position, altitude, speed, pitch and roll. Such devices could take advantage of mobile device technology and be installed with minimal expense in all helicopters through FAA NORSEE and EASA CS-STAN process. Note: The ability to proliferate helicopters with HFDM systems integrated into FOQA systems is a greater priority than crashworthiness of the systems. (ESPN-R, EASA Safety Roadmap and HSE-82)

Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA) software systems for analyzing and aggregating HFDM data used to proactively address “outside of envelope” flight and encourage voluntary compliance with best practices. (ESPN-R, EASA Safety Roadmap and HSE-82)

Optionally Piloted Aircraft (OPA) and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) used for high risk surveillance, inspection and data collection operations such as power line patrol and structural inspections (HSE-90).