The European Helicopter Safety Team (EHEST) has released its
preliminary analysis report on helicopter accidents occurred in
EASA Member States between 2000 and 2005. Analysis is the first
step towards reducing the helicopter accident rate by 80% by 2016,
an objective stated by the International Helicopter Safety
Team.
To reach this objective, EHSAT, the European Helicopter Safety
Analysis Team, was formed with the purpose of identifying safety
issues and intervention recommendations. The report presents the
results of 186 accidents where a final investigation report has
been issued by the responsible Accident Investigation Board.
Of the accidents analysed so far, 72 involve General Aviation
operations, 66 Aerial Work, 40 Commercial Air Transport, and 8
State Flights.
68% of the fatal accidents and 34% of all accidents analysed by
EHSAT occurred during the en route phase of flight. In 33% of the
accidents, the pilot had less than 1,000 hours total helicopter
experience. In 26% of the accidents, the pilot had less than 100
hours flight experience on the helicopter type involved in the
accident. However, accidents also occurred to very experienced
pilots.
The analysis aims at identifying all
factors, causal or contributory, that played a role in the
accidents. The top three identified areas are 'Pilot judgment and
actions', 'Safety Management and Safety Culture', and 'Pilot
situation awareness'. Different patterns were observed for
Commercial Air Transport, Aerial Work and General Aviation.
To tackle the variety of languages used in accident reports and
optimise the use of resources, EHSAT has established nine regional
analysis teams across Europe. Regional analyses are consolidated at
European level. This initiative is unique in its efforts to conduct
a European wide analysis of helicopter accidents.
EHSAT derived suggestions for safety enhancement, called
intervention recommendations, from the analyses. Most of these
address 'training and instruction', 'flight operations', 'Safety
Management and Safety Culture', as well as 'regulations and
standards'. The EHSAT intervention recommendations are currently
being processed by the European Helicopter Safety Implementation
Team (EHSIT) launched on 5 February 2009.
EHEST is actively seeking new participants and all who are
interested in taking part in this safety-enhancing work are
encouraged to contact the EHEST secretariat.
EHEST was created in 2006 as one of the three components of the
European Strategic Safety Initiative (ESSI). It brings together
major helicopter airframe, engine and systems manufacturers,
operators, regulators, helicopter and pilots associations, research
organisations, accident investigators from across Europe and some
military helicopter operators. More than 50 organisations
participate in EHEST to date, of which around 30 are involved in
the EHSAT.