FAA’s Rotorcraft Monthly Accident Briefing for February 2021 (fifth month of FY21).

USHST,

Attached is the FAA’s Rotorcraft Monthly Accident Briefing for February 2021 (fifth month of FY21).

Monthly Summary

Totals: 6 accidents, 1 fatal accident, 4 fatalities

- The latest streak of fatal accident free days ended at 47. Prior to the fatal accident on 2/15/21, the most recent fatal accident was 12/29/20.

- There had not been a fatal accident in February for each of the previous two FYs.

Cumulative FY21 Summary (Oct – Feb)

FY21, Totals: 32 accidents, 3 fatal accidents, 7 fatalities

Accidents:

- For Oct – Feb, the estimated accident rate was 2.69 per 100K hours.

- The cumulative accident count for Oct – Feb totaling 32 events is tied with FY19 as the lowest in the last 39 FYs.

- The number of personal/private accidents continues to trend as disproportionately high compared to previous FYs and also when compared to other industry categories in FY21.

- With 14 accidents representing 44% of the FY accident total for Oct – Feb, personal/private is 3.5 times higher than the next closest industry category.

Fatal Accidents:

- For Oct – Feb, the estimated fatal accident rate was 0.25 per 100K hours.

- FY21 had the lowest number of fatal accidents from Oct – Feb for the 39 years on record.

- FY21 is one of only 3 years in the last 39 FYs with 5 or less fatal accidents after 5 months of the FY. The other two were FY16 and FY88, both with 4 fatal accidents.

- Through 5 months, 9% of the accidents in the FY have had a fatality, tied for the lowest percentage for an Oct – Feb for the 39 years on record. It also marked only the second time the percentage was less than 10% for Oct-Feb for the 39 years on record.

Fatalities:

- For Oct – Feb, the estimated fatality rate was 0.59 per 100K hours.

- FY21 had the lowest number of fatalities from Oct – Feb for the 39 years on record.

- FY21 is one of only 4 years in the last 39 FYs with 10 or less fatalities after 5 months of the FY.

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 (5 year average of 0.62 per 100K hours) as their baseline for measurement.

- The CY 2017-2021 5 year average fatal accident rate was 0.7 per 100K hours.

- For the years that will be included in the USHST’s final measurement in 2025 (CY 2020-2021), the average fatal accident rate was 0.59 per 100K hours.

Lee Roskop

Detailed to Strategic Policy Rotorcraft Section, AIR-616 (Jan – Jun, 2021)

Safety Risk Management Section, AIR-633 Systems Policy Branch, Policy & Innovation Division 817-222-5337 lee.roskop@faa.gov

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