FAA Rotorcraft Monthly Accident Briefing - December
Attached is the Rotorcraft Monthly Accident Briefing for December 2024 (third 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” or “Make Model Breakdown” for access to all 3 pages of visualized and interactive data.
Monthly Summary
December Totals: 4 accidents, 1 fatal accident, 1 fatality
- For the 43 years on record, this was the fifth time for any December that there were less than 5 rotorcraft accidents during the month. Two of those five times have been in the past five years.
- Of the 4 accidents during the month, two involved the law enforcement industry segment. One of the two was fatal.
FY25 Summary
FY25 Totals: 17 accidents, 5 fatal accidents, 12 fatalities
Accidents (includes both fatal & non-fatal accidents):
- The FY25 estimated accident rate for Oct-Dec was 2.51 per 100K hours (30% lower than the same period in FY24 and 30% lower than the 5 year average for the same period).
Fatal Accidents:
- The FY25 estimated fatal accident rate for Oct-Dec was 0.74 per 100K hours (24% higher than the same period in FY24 and 2% lower than the 5 year average for the same period).
Fatalities:
- The FY25 estimated fatality rate for Oct-Dec was 1.77 per 100K hours (98% higher than the same period in FY24, 28% higher than the 5 year average for the same period).
U.S. Helicopter Safety Team (USHST) Calendar Year Metrics
- The end of December 2024 marked the end of the USHST’s latest 5 year goal period (1/1/2020 – 12/31/2024).
- USHST’s 2020-2024 Goal: Reduce the 5 year average fatal accident rate to 0.55 per 100K hours by 2025.
- Based on the FAA’s forecast hours for CY2024, the estimated 5 year average fatal accident rate for CYs 2020-2024 was 0.62 per 100K hours.
- The single year rates per 100K hours over the course of the 5 years progressed as follows:
-- 2020: 0.79
-- 2021: 0.76
-- 2022: 0.58
-- 2023: 0.58
-- 2024: 0.44
- The CY2024 single year rate of 0.44 was the lowest for the 25 calendar years on record where flight hours are available and 14% lower than the next lowest rate (0.51 in 2016). The CY2024 rate will be confirmed after the results from FAA’s GA Survey for 2024 are finalized (expected in late 2025).
- For the years used in the final rate calculation, the USHST used helicopter accidents that meet the following criteria:
1. U.S. registered aircraft
2. Operating in the U.S./U.S. territories (includes offshore)
Lee Roskop
Aviation Safety Coordinator (Rotorcraft)
Fleet Safety Section, AIR-723
Operational Safety Branch, Compliance & Airworthiness Division
817-222-5337
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