Public Helicopter Safety makes NTSB Most Wanted List

One year after calling attention to the unique characteristics of helicopter operations with its 2014 Most Wanted List of safety improvements, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is focusing on one particular sector of the helicopter industry — public-use operators.

“Enhance Public Helicopter Safety” is one of 10 action items on the NTSB’s 2015 Most Wanted List, announced Tuesday. By “public helicopters,” the NTSB is referring to aircraft operated by or on behalf of government agencies, such as law enforcement agencies.

Unlike commercial helicopter operators, public operators generally function without Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) oversight. That gives them wide latitude in how they manage safety in their operations — even though many public operators carry passengers in the context of search-and-rescue (SAR) and other missions.

According to the NTSB, since 2004, the agency has investigated more than 130 accidents involving federal, state, and local public helicopter operations — an average of around one per month. Around 67 percent of those accidents involved operations by law enforcement agencies, while firefighting activities accounted for another 16 percent. The remainder involved missions related to resource management, such as wildlife surveys.  

In all, 50 people have died and nearly 40 have been seriously injured in public helicopter accidents over the past decade — a tally that NTSB member Robert Sumwalt says is far too high. In an interview on Tuesday, Sumwalt told Vertical, “I don’t think that figure would be acceptable to anybody.”

Sumwalt stressed that the NTSB recognizes “the good work that is being done by public helicopter operators . . . they’re doing work that is literally saving lives.” He suggested, however, that too many public operators are accepting missions that are beyond their aircraft and flight crew’s capabilities — such as nighttime SAR and medevac missions in severe weather. “I think sometimes there’s a focus on completing the mission at all costs,” he said.

Because public operators are largely exempt from rules that govern commercial passenger-carrying operations, the NTSB is not advocating a regulatory approach to change — instead, it is encouraging operators to make voluntary improvements in training, technology, and operational procedures. Recommendations made in conjunction with the Most Wanted List include more scenario-based training for flight crews; implementation of flight risk evaluation programs and formalized dispatch procedures; and adoption of safety-enhancing technology such as radio altimeters, night vision imaging systems, and terrain awareness and warning systems.

“We want people to have safety management systems . . . we want people to formally evaluate risk,” Sumwalt said. “We’re talking about an organizational culture that embraces safety.”

As part of its outreach to public operators, the NTSB will be working with industry groups such as the Airborne Law Enforcement Association (ALEA) to find ways to implement its recommendations. “We look forward to working with the industry on this safety issue,” Sumwalt said.

ALEA president Kurt Frisz told Vertical that the organization doesn’t necessarily agree with Public Helicopter Safety making the Most Wanted List, as the industry is “coming off one of our safest years in the past 10.” Nevertheless, he said, ALEA will use the extra attention to promote its best practice standards, as well as the auditing and accreditation services it offers through the Public Safety Aviation Accreditation Commission — all of which he described closely aligned with the NTSB’s priorities.

“We look at this as an opportunity,” said Frisz. 

Other specifically aviation-related items on the NTSB’s Most Wanted List include “Strengthen Procedural Compliance” and “Prevent Loss of Control in Flight in General Aviation.” The complete 2015 Most Wanted List can be found on the NTSB website.