FAA Rotorcraft Monthly Accident Briefing - January

Feb 4
3 min read

Attached is the Rotorcraft Monthly Accident Briefing for January 2026 (fourth 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

January Totals: 8 accidents, 1 fatal accident, 4 fatalities

- The one fatal accident and four fatalities involved a helicopter from the Personal/Private industry sector impacting a recreational slackline (balance line) strung across a valley.

- For the second consecutive month, a helicopter-to-helicopter midair collision occurred. The event was non-fatal for occupants in both a/c. Both were flying in support of a wildlife capture survey (Aerial Observation industry sector).

- The Personal/Private industry sector and Aerial Observation industry sector each accounted for 38% of the total accidents during the month (each with 3 of the 8 accidents).

FY26 Summary

FY26 Totals: 21 accidents, 7 fatal accidents, 13 fatalities

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

- The FY26 estimated accident rate for Oct-Jan was 2.31 per 100K hours (13% lower than the same period in FY25 and 30% lower than the 5-year average for the same period).

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

-- Part 91 – 76%, Part 133 – 5%, Part 135 – 14%, Part 137 – 5%.

- The 21 accidents in FY26 have occurred in seven different industry sectors. The top three percentages through Jan were: 1) Personal/Private: 38%, 2) Helicopter Air Ambulance: 19%, 3) Aerial Observation: 14%

Fatal Accidents:

- The FY26 estimated fatal accident rate for Oct-Jan was 0.77 per 100K hours (12% higher than the same period in FY25 and 22% higher than the 5-year average for the same period).

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

-- Part 91 – 71%, Part 133 – 0%, Part 135 – 29%, Part 137 – 0%.

- The 7 fatal accidents in FY26 have occurred in the following three industry sectors: 1) Personal/Private: 57%, 2) Helicopter Air Ambulance: 29%, 3) Utilities Patrol/Construction: 14%

Fatalities:

- The FY26 estimated fatality rate for Oct-Jan was 1.43 per 100K hours (17% lower than the same period in FY25 and 21% higher than the 5-year average for the same period).

- Through 4 months, 33% of the rotorcraft accidents in FY26 had a fatality (long term historical percentage is 17-18%).

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

-- Part 91 – 85%, Part 133 – 0%, Part 135 – 15%, Part 137 – 0%.

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)	0.5
133	1.73	1.56 (10% reduction)	0.72
135	0.33	0.17 (50% reduction)	0.41
137	1.11	1.00 (10% reduction)	1.24