Updated: Nov 19, 2020
Attached is the Rotorcraft Monthly Accident Briefing for May 2020.
Note: We think there has been a significant reduction in flight hours for some rotorcraft industry sectors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but we still cannot quantify the magnitude. The calculation of monthly and cumulative rotorcraft safety rates are still suspended until a revised forecast of FY2020 rotorcraft flight hours is available.
Monthly Summary
Totals: 4 accidents, 2 fatal accidents, 2 fatalities
-The 4 accidents were the lowest total for the month of May for the 38 FYs on record.
-This was the second time in FY20 there were 4 accidents during the month (other instance was November).
Cumulative FY20 Summary, Oct-May
FY20, Cumulative Totals: 53 accidents, 13 fatal accidents, 32 fatalities
Accidents:
-The Oct-May total accident count of 53 was the lowest for the 38 FYs on record. The next closest cumulative count for Oct-May was 62 in FY17.
Fatal Accidents:
-The Oct-May total fatal accident count of 13 was 5 lower than the same timeframe in FY19 (18 fatal accidents). It was comparable to the range of Oct-May totals for the 5 years from FY14-FY18 (range of 12 to 15 fatal accidents for Oct-May during those years).
-25% of the accidents that have occurred so far in the FY were fatal, a slight increase from Oct-April and still trending above the recent historical averages of 16-17%.
Fatalities:
-The Oct-May total fatality count of 32 was better than both FY18 and FY19 but lags the recent 4 year block from FY14-FY17 where fatalities from Oct-May ranged between 19 and 24.
U.S. Helicopter Safety Team (USHST) Calendar Year Metrics
-Goal: Reduce the 5 year average fatal accident rate to 0.55 per 100K flight hours by 2025. The USHST uses the fatal accident rate from CYs 2014-2018 (0.62 per 100K hours) as their baseline for measurement.
-Rate metrics on USHST’s progress were suspended for April and May due to uncertainty in the number of flight hours.
-The count of 6 rotorcraft fatal accidents from Jan-May is below the 5 year average count for CYs 2014-2018 from Jan-May of 8.4 fatal accidents.
Lee Roskop
Safety Management Section, AIR-682
Rotorcraft Standards Branch, Policy & Innovation Division
817-222-5337
lee.roskop@faa.gov
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