Helicopter team drafts safety plan

New Delhi: The newly formed Joint Helicopter Safety Analysis Team (JHSAT) is examining the details of the nearly 600 rotary-wing aircraft accidents that occur annually worldwide to derive a strategy for improving helicopter safety by 80% within 10 years. The plan is based on the strategy successfully used to enhance airline safety since the Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST) began its work in 1998.
Speaking at the International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST) regional conference in New Delhi, India last week, US Federal Aviation Administration rotorcraft manager David Downey said that, despite the lack of flight data or cockpit voice recorders (FDR/CVR) fitted on helicopters, the JHSAT is going to use the accident reports to identify the greatest risks to this industry sector.
India’s fleet of 140 civil helicopters is predicted to grow by 15% a year, says the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The industry reports 14 months without a rotary-wing accident, says head of the DGCA’s helicopter group P K Chattopadhya, but between 2001 and early 2005 there was a surge in serious and fatal accidents, 2003 being the worst year with seven.
20/06/06 David Learmount/Flight International

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