All of the slide presentations from the workshops offered by the IHST at HeliExpo 2013 are now available at www.IHST.org.  Topics include:

• Implementing SMS for the Smaller Operator
• SMS and Decision Making
• Safety Management Through Flight Data Monitoring
• HUMS 101
• Breaking the Accident Chain with HTAWS
• And others . . .

WASHINGTON, DC - The International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST) is adding additional focus to its safety efforts in the U.S. helicopter community by designating two of its current executives to lead the United States Helicopter Safety Team (USHST) and concentrate solely on safety issues within the U.S. civil helicopter community. This team will be co-chaired by industry and government. James Viola, FAA Flight Standards Division, has been named the government co-chair and Bill Chiles, president and chief executive officer of Bristow Group, has been named as the industry co-chair of the USHST.

CHICAGO - The International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST), a worldwide organization leading a multi-year effort to enhance safety and reduce the civil helicopter accident rate, has added Robinson Helicopter Company President Kurt Robinson to its Executive Committee.

Kurt Robinson heads the Robinson Helicopter Company, which is the world’s leading manufacturer of civil helicopters.  The company of nearly 1,300 employees has its headquarters and factory located in Southern California, plus a network of more than 400 service centers that provide world-wide service and support.  Kurt Robinson has been a member of the company for more than 25 years and has been president since 2010.  He is a commercial-rated helicopter pilot and he holds an MBA and a law degree from the University of San Diego.

PART TWO
Four Helicopter Accidents and Seven Fatalities in Just Eight Days:
Helicopter Pilots Need to Take Ownership of These Tragic Numbers Says the IHST.

From Oct. 10th to Oct 17th, the U.S. helicopter community experienced four accidents that started out as “routine” general aviation/private flights, but each ended with fatal results.

• On Oct. 10th, a helicopter carrying three businessmen returning from a golf outing crashed into a wooded area in northeastern Pennsylvania as it struggled to land in bad weather.  Two people were killed.
• On the same day, Oct. 10th, a low-flying helicopter struck a guy-wire supporting a radio tower near Crowley, Louisiana, killing the pilot.
• On Oct. 12th, a helicopter crashed during an evening flight in a wooded area near Fredericksburg, Texas, killing all three onboard, killing all three on board.
• On Oct. 17th, a helicopter went down and caught fire in woods in Bucks County, Penn., after taking off in early morning fog, killing the pilot.

CHICAGO - The International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST), a worldwide organization leading a multi-year effort to reduce the civil helicopter accident rate, has increased its library of safety tools, with 11 documents now available to operators, pilots, instructors, and mechanics. 

The safety tools that can be found on the group’s web site (www.IHST.org) offer practical advice and valuable expertise on a wide range of helicopter safety topics.  The toolkits and safety leaflets focus on four primary areas that need to be improved in order to reduce helicopter accidents: safety management, training, maintenance, and equipment/technology.  Eleven safety topics within these primary areas have been highlighted so far and more are being developed.

The British Helicopter Association has announced that one of its Members, Heli Air, has achieved IS-BAO registration. This is a world first for registration under the industry’s amended safety standard that now facilitates implementation by both fixed and rotary wing operations.

The International Helicopter Safety Team will sponsor four free workshops at the HAI HeliExpo event in Dallas.  All four of the education sessions will take place on Saturday, Feb. 11^th at the Dallas Convention Center   They will focus on helping operators, pilots, trainers, and mechanics develop a new safety culture.  Listed below is a brief description of each workshop.
 

Number of Accidents Down 30 Percent, Renewed Effort Needed to Accomplish 10-Year Mission.

FORT WORTH – More than 200 professionals from helicopter companies, associations, and government agencies in 21 countries gathered in Fort Worth, Texas, last week for the fifth annual International Helicopter Safety Symposium.  They left the Lone Star State with a renewed optimism about safety successes, along with a recognition that much more work needs to be accomplished in order to reach the helicopter community’s 2016 safety
goal.

Whether you operate one helicopter or a fleet of 100, a Safety Management System (SMS) should be an important part of your operation.  Helicopter operations are becoming more complex and SMS is an organized and practical method for controlling risks and hazards.  Click here to watch an IHST video on developing a Safety Management System which will allow operators to maintain control over the key factors that affect safety.

The National EMS Pilots Association is conducting a survey to gather opinions on heliport design and safety from all helicopter pilots involved in any form of helicopter operations. The information gathered will be presented to the FAA and to all stake holders in the helicopter industry to assist in the current efforts to rewrite the new FAA heliport advisory circular. Please take 15 minutes now and make a positive impact on your industry for years to come. Click on the following survey link:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HeliportSurvey

Have you tried to implement SMS?  It is easier than you may think.  Read about Hi Jet Helicopters in South America and their experience successfully achieving ICAO Level 1 status after implementing an SMS program using the IHST SMS Toolkit.

Hi Jet Helicopters in South America article

SMS Toolkit and video

The International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST) has just released the new IHST Maintenance Tool Kit developed by the European Helicopter Safety Team with support from members of the International Safety Team.  The Maintenance Tool Kit is intended to provide helicopter operators with a framework of guidance material to ensure that they can safely maintain their aircraft in airworthy readiness for operations in the most cost-effective manner possible. No matter what size company or how many helicopters are involved, it is essential for all the stakeholders, including the owners, operators and their customers, to agree on how maintenance is to be done and to document that agreement to assure a shared understanding and consistent execution.  

 

Six senior executives from offshore helicopter operators gathered today in the course of the International Helicopter Safety Symposium (IHSS) 2010 in Cascais, Portugal to sign a Letter of Commitment entitled “A Call to Action by and for Offshore Helicopter Operators”. An additional four operators also committed to the initiative through a virtual signing. The commitment symbolises an outstanding collective effort to further enhance the safety record of all helicopter operators and is a clear sign of their dedication to the International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST) safety programme.

Fri, 15 Oct '10
Says "Thank You" For Their Support Of The Helicopter Safety Team
HAI President Matt Zuccaro took a moment out at the Air Medical Transport Conference to say thank you to Bell Helicopter President John Garrison and American Eurocopter President Marc Paganini for their commitment and continued support of the International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST) and HAI Safety initiatives.

9 June 2010 – At 15:00 today, key figures from the helicopter and business aviation community signed an Agreement on the Development and Management of an IS-BAO (Helicopter Edition) at the ILA Berlin Airshow 2010.

The American Helicopter Society (AHS) has informed us that the IHST will be awarded the AgustWestland International Fellowship Award on Wednesday May, 12, 2010 at their annual meeting in Phoenix, AZ.

In a ringing endorsement of the IHST safety initiative, the Chief Executive Officers of AgustaWestland, Bell Helicopter Textron, Eurocopter and Sikorsky Aircraft gathered at Heli-Expo to sign a joint letter on February 21, 2010 captioned “A Call for Action by Helicopter Owners.”

Flight International
Helicopter safety appears to be responding to treatment
By David Learmount

After more than 20 years of stagnation, global helicopter safety performance is showing signs of improvement.

Pilot judgement and actions is the most frequent single contributory factor in European helicopter accidents, according to a European Helicopter Safety Analysis Team study. The study is aimed at understanding rotary wing accidents so as to develop a strategy to reduce risks. 

A Bit of History

The IHST came to life in a meeting at the American Helicopter Society International headquarters in early 2004 with participants from the Helicopter Association  International, the FAA, helicopter manufacturers and others interested in the reduction of helicopter accidents. In order to get the movement going, the first International Helicopter Safety Symposium was held scheduled for everyone to meet in Montreal, Canada in September 2005. Industry interest and attendance was overwhelming.  More...

IHST is pleased to announce the newly redesigned web site, specifically with the needs of IHST in mind. The information is better organized and structured. The new site is modeled after the CAST web site with their permission, as was the concept for IHST itself. Much effort was put forward to insure that the logon usernames and passwords remain the same. Many thanks to Mark Liptak, Kay Brackins, Sun Yi, and Ed DiCampli for this effort.

The July 2008 IHST Happenings contains news from the Exeucitve Committee, updates from the Brazil and European Regions, a report on the Helicopter Safety Web Sight and an article by Marieke van Hijum on Occurance Categories for Helicopters. Also included is a Regional Process Tracking Chart and an IHST Organization Chart.

July 2008 IHST Happenings

Non-Combat Military Helicopter Accidents 1985-2005: Causation and Mitigation Recommendations

Follow this link to view four presentations addressing non-combat military helicopter mishaps during the period 1985-2005. This is believed to be the first time this information has been released by the Department of Defense and the applicable service branch safety centers for public use. The presentations cover class A, B and C helicopter mishaps within the US Air Force, the US Army (one presentation covers mishaps in which human factors played a leading role; the other describes non-human factor mishaps); and the US Navy/US Marine Corps. The presentations are the work product of Colonel Peter Mapes, USAF, and the respective authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of the DoD, the safety centers or the four service branches. The presentations will be reviewed and validated, to the extent possible, by the International Helicopter Safety Team, whose charter is to reduce the world accident rate, both civil accidents and non-combat military mishaps, by 80 percent by 2016.

Keith Johnson, ALEA Safety Program Manager is pleased to announce that the IHST Toolkit has been formally adopted by the Airborne Law Enforcement Association Board of Directors.  Visit their website at http://www.alea.org, click  on "Safety First" at the bottom of the page.