FAA Rotorcraft Monthly Accident Briefing - July

Lee Roskop
5 days ago
3 min read

Attached is the Rotorcraft Monthly Accident Briefing for July 2025 (tenth month of FY25).

(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

July Totals: 11 accidents, 1 fatal accident, 1 fatality

- The 11 accidents tied for the lowest for the month of July for the 43 FYs on record (tied with FYs 06 and 21).

- Of the 11 accidents in July, 55% (6 of 11) involved rotorcraft working in the aerial application industry sector.

- From long term historical trends, July has commonly been the highest accident month of the FY for rotorcraft operating in aerial application. This appears likely again in FY25 after 6 of the 11 aerial accident accidents so far in the FY occurred in July.

- From preliminary investigative information, 50% of the aerial application accidents (3 of 6) during July involved a powerline strike in the event sequence.

- The single fatal accident and fatality during the month also occurred in the aerial application industry sector.

FY25 Summary

FY25 Totals: 70 accidents, 17 fatal accidents, 35 fatalities

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

- The FY25 estimated accident rate for Oct-Jul was 2.80 per 100K hours (17% lower than the same period in FY24 and 26% lower than the 5-year average for the same period).

- By percentage of overall accidents, the highest three industry sectors through 10 months of FY25 were: 1) Personal/Private (34%, 24 events), 2) Aerial Application (16%, 11 events), 3) Helicopter Air Ambulance (11%, 8 events).

- Distribution of accidents by Operating Part for FY25 through Jul was:

-- Part 91 – 57%, Part 133 – 3%, Part 135 – 14%, Part 137 – 16%. Remaining accidents: 3% operated as public aircraft and 7% operated outside the U.S.

Fatal Accidents:

- The FY25 estimated fatal accident rate for Oct-Jul was 0.68 per 100K hours (19% higher than the same period in FY24 and 3% lower than the 5-year average for the same period).

- By percentage of fatal accidents, the highest industry sectors through 10 months of FY25 were: 1) Personal/Private (41%, 7 events), 2) (3-way tie), Helicopter Air Ambulance, Air Tour/Sightseeing, and Aerial Application (EACH with 12%, 2 events).

- Distribution of fatal accidents by Operating Part for FY25 through Jul was:

-- Part 91 – 53%, Part 133 – 0%, Part 135 – 18%, Part 137 – 12%. Remaining fatal accidents: 6% operated as public aircraft and 12% operated outside the U.S.

Fatalities:

- The FY25 estimated fatality rate for Oct-Jul was 1.4 per 100K hours (27% higher than the same period in FY24, 3% higher than the 5-year average for the same period).

- 24% of the rotorcraft accidents from Oct - Jul had a fatality.

- By percentage of fatalities, the highest three industry sectors through 10 months of FY25 were: 1) Personal/Private (31%, 11 fatalities), 2) Air/Tour Sightseeing (29%, 10 fatalities), 3) Helicopter Air Ambulance (17%, 6 fatalities).

- Distribution of fatalities by Operating Part for FY25 through Jul was:

-- Part 91 – 57%, Part 133 – 0%, Part 135 – 23%, Part 137 – 6%. Remaining fatalities: 3% on public aircraft and 11% on aircraft operated 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, CY2021-2025 (per 100K hours)
91	0.81	0.73 (10% reduction)	0.6
133	1.73	1.56 (10% reduction)	0.38
135	0.33	0.17 (50% reduction)	0.36
137	1.11	1.00 (10% reduction)	1.51