Rotorcraft Monthly Accident Briefing for May 2026

Jun 5
3 min read

Attached is the Rotorcraft Monthly Accident Briefing for May 2026 (eighth 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

May Totals: 8 accidents, 1 fatal accident, 2 fatalities

- The eight total accidents occurred across 5 different industry sectors.

- Instructional/training had 3 accidents, the only industry sector during the month with more than 1 accident.

- The single fatal accident occurred at night during a Part 135 passenger carrying flight.

FY26 Summary

FY26 Totals: 50 accidents, 12 fatal accidents, 23 fatalities

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

- The FY26 estimated accident rate for Oct-May was 2.53 per 100K hours (5% lower than the same period in FY25 and 22% lower than the 5-year average for the same period).

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

-- Part 91 – 64%, Part 133 – 4%, Part 135 – 18%, Part 137 – 6%. Remaining accidents: 8% operated as Public Use aircraft.

- The 50 accidents in FY26 have occurred in nine different industry sectors. The top three percentages to date were: 1) Personal/Private: 34%, 2) Helicopter Air Ambulance: 16%, 3) Instructional/Training: 14%

Fatal Accidents:

- The FY26 estimated fatal accident rate for Oct-May was 0.61 per 100K hours (17% lower than the same period in FY25 and 3% 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 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-May was 1.16 per 100K hours (28% lower than the same period in FY25 and 10% lower than the 5-year average for the same period).

- Through 8 months, 24% 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)	0.79
135	0.33	0.17 (50% reduction)	0.43
137	1.11	1.00 (10% reduction)	1.13