Helicopter Accident Analysis

Abstract

Analysis of helicopter accidents is fundamental to the development of effective mitigation measures. However, there are significant weaknesses in the current methods. This paper proposes a new structured framework for the analysis of accidents in helicopter operations, which includes the determination of the appropriate timeframe for analysis, establishment of terminological definitions, identification of the relevant accident variables and data sources, and the execution of a three-fold statistical analysis strategy. It is implemented in the context of worldwide offshore helicopter operations, enabling the identification of a number of areas for priority intervention including the need for a global harmonisation of accident data capture and dissemination, causal factor-based metrics for the calculation of accident rates, better pilot support for night-time and arrival operations, and a new safety paradigm to mitigate rare accidents. The framework is recommended for the analysis of helicopter accidents and incidents to support safety improvement.K E Y WO R D S 1. Accident analysis.2. Helicopter safety. 3. Predictive safety.

Night-time offshore helicopter operations: a survey of risk levels per phase of flight, flying recency requirement and visual approach technique

“…Well-discriminated phases of flight reflect analogous environmental hazards, aerodynamic loads, task complexities and pilot activities. Hence, phases of flight receive prime consideration during both the investigation of safety occurrences and the development of pilot training syllabi (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14) . However, the phases of flight uniquely performed by helicopters are still poorly discriminated (5,15) because the current taxonomies are ill-adapted from fixed-wing operations (16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21) .…”

“…However, the phases of flight uniquely performed by helicopters are still poorly discriminated (5,15) because the current taxonomies are ill-adapted from fixed-wing operations (16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21) . This impacts on the quality of the safety data collected on a per-phase-of-flight basis (11,13,22) , thereby precluding the identification of specific problem areas. For example, changes in pilot control strategy associated with recurrent accident scenarios, such as the switch between visual and instrument scans during helicopter decelerating approaches in degraded visual environment (14,15,(23)(24)(25) , are still reported inconsistently in formal investigations.…”

“…This is aggravated by the persistent absence of pilot demographic analysis which could improve understanding of pilot-related events during high-risk phases of flight. Strategies to circumvent these problems include the complete disregard to pilot demographic analysis and the use of loose or clustered phases, such as a broad approach-and-landing phase in lieu of the individualised phases of instrument approach, visual approach, hovering and landing (1,11,12,14) . The associated loss of explanatory power and potential masking of important information is evident.…”

“…These account for a significant proportion of worldwide helicopter missions, with over 20m passengers being transported annually around the world (26) . Yet, helicopter accidents cause the majority of the work-related fatalities in the oil and gas sector (27)(28)(29)(30)(31) and accident rates are still unacceptably high (11,22,32) .…”

Addressing Differences in Safety Influencing Factors—A Comparison of Offshore and Onshore Helicopter Operations

“…To support future research, the cockpit should be instrumented with more complete data recording of the flight [17] including video recordings that go beyond the existing "black box" systems. This is also supported by [18] focusing on improvement in the quality and sharing of accident data; the need for metrics for the normalization of accidents; in addition to careful analysis of pilot performance (especially at night and during arrival).…”