FAA Rotorcraft Monthly Accident Briefing - September

USHST, Attached is the Rotorcraft Monthly Accident Briefing for September 2020 (end of Fiscal Year).

Monthly Summary Totals: 7 accidents, 0 fatal accidents, 0 fatalities - The 7 accidents tied for the lowest in the month of September for the 38 FYs on record. - For the first time in 7 months, there was not a fatal accident/fatality during the month. - FY20 was only the fourth FY in the last 38 FYs without a fatal accident/fatality in September. - For the first time in 38 FYs, there were consecutive years (FY19 & FY20) without a rotorcraft fatal accident/fatality in September. Cumulative FY20 Summary FY20, Totals: 97 accidents, 24 fatal accidents, 48 fatalities Accidents: - The FY20 total accident count of 97 was the lowest for any of the 38 FYs on record. It was 21 accidents lower than the next closest year (118 accident on three separate occasions). - This was the first time in the 38 FYs on record that the total number of rotorcraft accidents was less than 100. - The estimated accident rate for FY20 was 3.28 per 100K hours, the lowest among the 10 years currently being tracked and an 8% improvement over the next lowest year. - The industries that accounted for the highest percentage of accidents was comparable to historical trends observed the past 10 years: 1) Personal/Private (21%), 2) Aerial Application (15%), and 3) Instructional/Training (13%) - Month with highest number of accidents: July, with 19 - Month with lowest number of accidents: (tie) November, March, and May, with 4 Fatal Accidents: - The 24 fatal accidents in FY20 were identical to FY19 and 1 fatal accident higher than FY18. After 3 consecutive years with less than 20 fatal accidents from FY15-FY17, the fatal accident count increased in FY18 and since then has not improved. - The estimated fatal accident rate for FY20 was 0.81 per 100K hours, reflecting nearly an identical rate to FY18 and FY19. - The fatal accident rate for the three years of FY18-FY20 effectively are in a three-way tie for the second worst rate in the last 10 years, trailing only FY13’s rate of 1.25. - 25% of the rotorcraft accidents in FY20 had a fatality, the highest percentage among any of the 38 FYs on record and only the seventh time the percentage has been at or above 20% (second consecutive year). - The 24 fatal accidents were spread across 13 different industry sectors. Three of the industry sectors had more than 2 fatal accidents: 1) Personal/Private (4), 2) Firefighting (3), and Aerial Application (3) - Month with highest number of fatal accidents: (tie) October, July, August, with 4 -- For the second consecutive year and for the third time in the last 10 years, there were 4 or more fatal accidents in at least 3 months of the FY. - Month with lowest number of fatal accidents: (tie) November, February, September, with 0 -- FY20 was one of only 5 years in the last 38 FYs where there were at least 3 months without a fatal accident Fatalities: - The estimated fatality rate was 1.62 per 100K hours, comparable to both FY18 and FY19, and fourth highest among the most recent 10 years. - Month with highest number of fatalities: January, 11 - Month with lowest number of fatalities: (tie) November, February, September, with 0 U.S. Helicopter Safety Team (USHST) Calendar Year Metrics - Goal: Reduce the 5 year average fatal accident rate to 0.55 per 100K hours by 2025. The USHST uses the fatal accident rate from CYs 2014-2018 (0.62 per 100K hours) as their baseline for measurement. - The CY 2016-2020 5 year average fatal accident rate was 0.7 per 100K hours through September 2020. Lee Roskop Safety Management Section, AIR-682 Rotorcraft Standards Branch, Policy & Innovation Division 817-222-5337 lee.roskop@faa.gov We value your feedback. Click here to send us your feedback. Attachments area