FAA Rotorcraft Monthly Accident Briefing - August

5 days ago

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Attached is the Rotorcraft Monthly Accident Briefing for August 2026 (eleventh month of FY26).

(Covers Part 27, Part 29, and Restricted Category rotorcraft accidents to U.S. registered aircraft. Does not include gyrocopters or experimental aircraft.)

Please access the information from this briefing directly anytime at the FAA’s publicly available, Rotorcraft Accident Dashboard.

Find “Dashboard Navigation” near the top of the default page and click either “Historical Briefing”, “USHST Metrics”, or “Make Model Breakdown” for access to all 4 pages of visualized and interactive data.

Monthly Summary

August Totals: 9 accidents, 2 fatal accidents, 4 fatalities

- Both fatal accidents during August involved the aerial firefighting industry sector.

- One of the two fatal accidents was U.S. registered but operating outside of the United States (occurred in Greece).

- The count of 9 total accidents was only the third time in the 44 FYs on record that the monthly accident total for August was less than 10.

- The following industry sectors each had more than one accident during the month and together accounted for 78% of accidents during the month: aerial firefighting (3), aerial application (2), instructional/training (2).

FY26 Summary

FY26 Totals: 76 accidents, 16 fatal accidents, 29 fatalities

Accidents (includes both fatal & non-fatal accidents):

- The FY26 estimated accident rate for Oct-Aug was 2.79 per 100K hours (15% lower than the same period in FY25 and 26% lower than the 5-year average for the same period).

- Distribution of accidents by Operating Part so far in FY26:

-- Part 91 – 55%, Part 133 – 5%, Part 135 – 13%, Part 137 – 17%. Remaining accidents: 7% operated as Public Use aircraft. 3% U.S. registered but operating outside the U.S.

- The count of 76 accidents from Oct-Aug was the lowest total for that time for the 44 FYs on record.

- The 76 accidents so far in FY26 occurred in 10 different industry sectors. The top three percentages to date were: 1) Personal/Private: 30%, 2) Aerial Application: 17%, 3) Instructional/Training: 13%

Fatal Accidents:

- The FY26 estimated fatal accident rate for Oct-Aug was 0.59 per 100K hours (13% lower than the same period in FY25 and 11% lower than the 5-year average for the same period).

- Distribution of fatal accidents by Operating Part so far in FY26:

-- Part 91 – 44%, Part 133 – 19%, Part 135 – 25%, Part 137 – 0%. Remaining fatal accidents: 6% operated as Public Use aircraft. 6% U.S. registered but operating outside the U.S.

- The count of 16 fatal accidents from Oct-Aug was in a three-way tie for the third lowest total for that time for the 44 FYs on record.

- The 16 fatal accidents so far in FY26 occurred in eight different industry sectors. Four industry sectors had multiple fatal accidents: 1) Personal/Private (5 events, 31%); 2) Firefighting (3 events, 19%); 3) Helicopter Air Ambulance & Utilities Patrol/Construction: (each w/2 events,13% each).

Fatalities:

- The FY26 estimated occupant fatality rate for Oct-Aug was 1.06 per 100K hours (23% lower than the same period in FY25 and 16% lower than the 5-year average for the same period).

- Through 11 months, 21% of the rotorcraft accidents in FY26 had a fatality (long term historical percentage is 17-18%).

- Multiple fatalities occurred in 44% of the 16 fatal accidents.

- Distribution of fatalities by Operating Part so far for FY26:

-- Part 91 – 48%, Part 133 – 14%, Part 135 – 24%, Part 137 – 0%. Remaining fatalities: 7% operated as Public Use aircraft. 7% U.S. registered but operating outside the U.S.

U.S. Helicopter Safety Team (USHST) Calendar Year Metrics

The USHST’s 5-year goals for 2025-2029 are based on individual 14 CFR Operating Parts, tracked by the 5-year average fatal accident rates per 100K hours.

14 CFR Part	Baseline, CY2018-2022 (per 100K hours)	Goal, CY2025-2029 (per 100K hours)	Progress, CY2022-2026 (per 100K hours)
91	0.81	0.73 (10% reduction)	0.46
133	1.73	1.56 (10% reduction)	1.00
135	0.33	0.17 (50% reduction)	0.41
137	1.11	1.00 (10% reduction)	1.08