FAA Rotorcraft Monthly Accident Briefing - June

Jul 13
3 min read

Attached is the Rotorcraft Monthly Accident Briefing for June 2026 (ninth 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

June Totals: 4 accidents, 0 fatal accidents, 0 fatalities

- The four total accidents was the lowest for the month of June for the 44 FYs on record.

- For the fourth consecutive year, there were less than 10 total accidents in June. Prior to the current four-year streak, less than 10 total accidents in June had only occurred once in 40 FYs.

- This was only the third time in the 44 FYs on record that zero fatal accidents/zero fatalities occurred during the month of June.

FY26 Summary

FY26 Totals: 54 accidents, 12 fatal accidents, 23 fatalities

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

- The FY26 estimated accident rate for Oct-Jun was 2.41 per 100K hours (12% lower than the same period in FY25 and 27% lower than the 5-year average for the same period).

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

-- Part 91 – 63%, Part 133 – 4%, Part 135 – 17%, Part 137 – 9%. Remaining accidents: 7% operated as Public Use aircraft.

- The count of 54 accidents from Oct-Jun is the lowest total for that time period for the 44 FYs on record.

- The 54 accidents in FY26 have occurred in nine different industry sectors. The top three percentages to date were: 1) Personal/Private: 33%, 2) Helicopter Air Ambulance: 15%, 3) Instructional/Training: 13%.

Fatal Accidents:

- The FY26 estimated fatal accident rate for Oct-Jun was 0.53 per 100K hours (28% lower than the same period in FY25 and 13% lower than the 5-year average for the same period).

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

-- Part 91 – 50%, Part 133 – 8%, Part 135 – 33%, Part 137 – 0%. Remaining fatal accidents: 8% operated as Public Use aircraft.

- The count of 12 fatal accidents from Oct-Jun is in a four-way tie for the third lowest total for that time period for the 44 FYs on record.

- The 12 fatal accidents in FY26 have occurred in seven different industry sectors. Three industry sectors had multiple fatal accidents: 1) Personal/Private: (4 events, 33%) 2) (tie) Helicopter Air Ambulance & Utilities Patrol/Construction: (each w/2 events,17%).

Fatalities:

- The FY26 estimated occupant fatality rate for Oct-Jun was 1.03 per 100K hours (35% lower than the same period in FY25 and 16% lower than the 5-year average for the same period).

- Through 9 months, 22% of the rotorcraft accidents in FY26 had a fatality (long term historical percentage is 17-18%).

- Multiple fatalities occurred in 50% of the 12 fatal accidents.

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

-- Part 91 – 57%, Part 133 – 4%, Part 135 – 30%, Part 137 – 0%. Remaining fatalities: 9% operated as Public Use aircraft.

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)	0.47
133	1.73	1.56 (10% reduction)	0.78
135	0.33	0.17 (50% reduction)	0.43
137	1.11	1.00 (10% reduction)	1.12