Says Agency Should Ground All Helicopters Without Crashworthy Safety Features Immediately

Aviation passenger rights advocate FlyersRights.org, which is also a member of the FAA Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee, has called on the FAA to ground all helicopters not compliant with crashworthy standards.

"Helicopter air crash fatalities involve dozens of horrible and mostly preventable passenger deaths annually due to fire, drowning and impact trauma," said Paul Hudson, president of FlyersRights.org. "The recent fatal tourist helicopter crashes in Hawaii, the Grand Canyon and the New York City East River make further delay by the FAA in enforcing 24 year old safety standards intolerable."

Safety standards include features to prevent fuel from igniting on impact, quick release harnesses, floatation devices, impact resistance seats and structural elements.  As of 2014, only 16% of helicopters complied with the above 1994 crash standards. Most helicopters, even those that are newly-manufactured, have been granted waivers for 1994 standards. Helicopters that were previously manufactured are not currently required to be retrofitted.  

The pilot should be able to activate a master tether release to allow passengers to quickly egress from their harnesses.  Finally, the FAA should recommend or requires twin engine helicopter motors, especially for commercial helicopters offering air transportation to the general public, as the absence of a backup engine makes air crashes certain when the primary engine fails.

In December 2015 the FAA and its industry dominated Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee, over Flyersrights.org strenuous objections, delayed enforcement of the helicopter safety standards for two years with a new cost benefit study. That study has now recommended another 10 years delay to partially implement the 1994 standards.  

The public can now see videos online that vividly show the deadly result of unenforced helicopter safety features, enforcement and testing. See YouTube helicopter crash videos.

(Source: FlyersRights.org news release)

FMI: FlyersRights.org