The International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST) is partnering with the FAA Safety Team for the first of several two-hour workshops aimed at discussing the grey areas of safety decisions faced by helicopter pilots during critical moments.
The workshop is free and participants can register on the FAA website: https://www.faasafety.gov/SPANS/event_details.aspx?eid=86202&caller=/SPANS/events/EventList.aspx.
The session will be a deep dive into one helicopter accident, an analysis of the tragedy of three lost lives, and a recognition that many operational decisions during a flight are not black and white choices.
On Saturday, Dec. 1, at the Arizona State University Polytechnic campus in Mesa, Arizona, Tina Buskirk of the FAA Flight Standards District Office and Jeff Hurd of PHI Air Ambulance will lead an in-depth 90-minute session about a safety-conscious helicopter pilot who died while trying to fly a very noble mission.
They will use extensive National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) accident reports, photos, animation, and pilot background materials as participants weigh the consequences of each operational decision.
The session is sponsored by the IHST as part of an initiative reviewing accidents that happened to good pilots who often were trying to do great deeds with their helicopters.
Participants will analyze the decision-making processes that can lead to disaster and determine what they can do to avoid falling into similar traps. What is learned at the workshop could save lives.
The free event begins at 9:30 a.m. on Dec 1, in the Cooley Ballroom on the Mesa campus of Arizona State University Polytechnic. There will be speaker and audience discussion and interaction, and refreshments will be provided. All pilots and student pilots are welcome to participate.
This will be the first in a series of interactive workshops supported by the IHST and aimed at decision-making issues faced by helicopter pilots before and during their flights.
During 2019, more workshops will be planned for locations in the United States, Canada, South America and Europe.
