| | |

Safety First: Aviation Lessons Learned

We at Air Flight Disaster are always trying to learn from our mistakes, and your mistakes and everyone’s mistakes. Which is why we would applaud the following Helicopter Expo event “Lessons Learned from Helicopter Accident Investigations” even if Air Safety wasn’t our business.

Pilots and interested parties wanting to learn lessons from recent helicopter accidents should pay attention to the following event:

2014 HAI Rotor Safety Challenge

Event: Lessons Learned from Helicopter Accident Investigations

Date/Time: Monday, February 24, 8:00 am to 12:00 p.m. (PST)

Location: Anaheim Convention Center (Ballroom C, Level 3), 800 W Katella Ave, Anaheim, CA 92802

Participants: Vice Chairman Christopher Hart and NTSB senior air safety investigators

Senior investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board will hold a training session about the lessons that have been learned from several recent helicopter accident investigations at the 2014 Helicopter Association International’s Heli-Expo in Anaheim, Calif., next week.
Investigators will present case studies that emphasize NTSB safety recommendations related to helicopter maintenance, flight simulators, and flight recorders. The case studies will be followed by industry-led panel discussions on best practices in the industry. NTSB Vice Chairman Christopher Hart will provide opening remarks for the session.

The preliminary schedule is posted below:

To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.

Similar Posts

  • | | | |

    Rio Helicopter Crash


    On May 8, 2013, a Helisul Táxi Aéreo Ltda-owned Helibras HB-350B Esquilo (Eurocopter Ecureuil) helicopter landing at a Rio de Janeiro heliport landed in the trees instead of on the landing area.

    Aboard were the pilot and five tourists,a couple of miners, and two tourists from the United States. No one was injured though witnesses saw the pilot had hurt his hand. One of the passengers filed an injury complaint.

    A gust of wind apparently blew the pilot off track. The company is calling the incident a forced landing.

    By the time the fire department and Experts of the Institute of Criminology Carlos Eboli (ICCE) arrived, the passengers had already left. The Regional Investigation and Prevention of Accidents (Seripa) is also investigating.

    Antonio Souza Moreira, father of one of the passengers, Álvaro Felipe, said his son had been injured on the shin. The helicopter ride had been a birthday present. Antonio confirmed that the pilot lost control at a gust of wind. There was smoke but no fire; and there was a fire extinguisher available. But the firefighters took an hour to arrive.

    To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
  • | |

    NTSB Releases Safety Recommendations

    Partial summary of what is included

    • incorporate in Aircraft Flight Manuals a committed-to-stop point in the landing sequence
    • subpart K operators and Part 142 training schools to incorporate the information
    • establish, and ensure that pilots adhere to, standard operating procedures.
    • principal operations inspectors ensure that pilots use the same checklists in operations that they used during training for normal, abnormal, and emergency conditions.
    • require manufacturers to revise existing, checklists to require pilots to clearly call out and respond with the actual flap position
    • revise/describe terms severe thunderstorms, such as “bow echo,” “derecho,” and “mesoscale convective system.”
    • revise regulations and policies to permit appropriate prescription use
    • require fatigue education (training and policy for doctors and pilots)
    • runway excursion prevention development
    • wet runway landing data information provided to pilots
    • pilot in command line checks demonstrating expertise

    Safety Recommendation .pdf

    To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
  • | | | |

    Military Chopper Crashes during exercises

    What: USMC HMLA-469 Bell AH-1W Super Cobra
    Where: Yuma, AZ
    When: Feb 22, 2012, 8 pm
    Who: 2 aboard, 2 fatalities
    Why: The helicopter was engaged in night flight exercises on February 22nd near Yuma, AZ when it collided with another flight. Service members with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing were involved.

    The crash happened west of the Chocolate Mountains in California.

    The names of the two fatalities have not been released.

    To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
  • | | |

    Chopper Crash in Louisiana, 2 lost

    What: Cenac Marine Services Robinson R44 Raven II
    Where: Belle Isle area east of Wax Lake, LA
    When: Jan 19, 2012, 7:30 am
    Who: 2 aboard
    Why: A helicopter flying south of Morgan City crashed into a marsky area east of Wax Lake. Fishermen called 911 when they saw the burning wreckage.

    The Cenac Marine Services helicopter crashed at 7:30 am, killing the two aboard.

    In St. Mary Parish, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has four boats and six agents engaged in search, rescue and recovery. FAA and National Transportation Safety Board investigators will be arriving ASAP.

    To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
  • | | | | |

    Millions Awarded to Crash Victims


    Two helicopters–both crews using night-vision goggles–participated in the nighttime maneuvers on Jan. 22, 2004 – a “low bird” that flew close to the ground and a “high bird” that flew above looking for possible obstructions. As the helicopters were leaving Talega Canyon, the UH-1N helicopter known as a Huey struck a 135-foot utility tower. The Cobra was intact. The Huey was not. All the victims were Iraq veterans attached to the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

    Fast forward to 2008. (Cases like these take years to go to trial.)

    Family members of Capt. Adam E. Miller, 29; 1st Lt. Michael S. Lawlor, 26; Staff Sgt. Lori A. Privette, 27; and Cpl. Joshua D. Harris, 21, asked for unspecified damages in the wrongful-death lawsuit. In a jury decision, over $15 million was awarded on Wednesday to the families of four Marines killed. Plus some $50 million in punitive damages.

    San Diego Gas & Electric, which owned the tower was determined by the jury to be negligent and “acted with malice” by not installing safety devices to prevent accidents. After a three week trial and deliberating one day, the jury determined that the parents of all four Marines should receive $2.125 million. Lawlor’s wife was entitled to $4.5 million for the loss and $2.2 million in lost earnings.

    SDG&E bore 56 percent of the responsibility for the collision because they knew about the hazard and failed to follow safety recommendations. Pilots and other parties shared the rest of the blame. After the trial’s punitive damages phase, the jury awarded $10.1 million to the families of each Marine who died in the crash.

    Since the accident, SDG&E has installed lights.

    To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
  • | |

    Helicopter Crashes in Ohio; Two Killed

    A helicopter crashed into a field in Troy Township, Wood County, Ohio, on January 15th.

    The incident happened when the helicopter was carrying two workers who were doing survey work for the utility company FirstEnergy.

    Both occupants of the aircraft were killed in the crash.

    The FAA and the NTSB are investigating.

    To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.