FAA Rotorcraft Monthly Accident Briefing - July

Attached is the Rotorcraft Monthly Accident Briefing for July 2023 (10th month of FY23).

**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

July Totals: 21 accidents, 3 fatal accidents, 6 fatalities

- The 21 accidents during the month was the highest of any month so far in FY23. It was 75% higher than March, the month with the previous highest accident count in FY23 (12 accidents).

- There had not been 20 or more accidents in any month since July 2018.

- Aerial Application (agricultural spraying) accounted for 11 of the 21 accidents (52%) during the month. Prior to July, there had been 6 Aerial Application accidents for the first 9 months of FY23.

- The 11 Aerial Application accidents in July 2023 was higher than the Aerial Application accidents totals when compared to each July in the preceding 5 FYs (2018-2022). The previous high was 9 accidents in July 2022, while the average for those 5 years was 7 accidents.

- Of the 11 Aerial Application accidents during the month, 6 of the 11 (55%) had power line/wire involvement noted in the preliminary report.

- Utility Patrol/Construction had 3 accidents during the month. Prior to July there had been 1 Utility Patrol/Construction accident for the first 9 months of FY23.

FY23 Summary

FY23 Totals: 83 accidents, 13 fatal accidents, 28 fatalities

- All count and rate metrics for the 10 month period of Oct-Jul showed improvement when measured against the same period for both the previous FY and the 5 year average.

- A fatal accident was added back in for the month of May. It had previously been removed due to a question regarding whether there was “intent for flight”.

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

- The FY23 estimated accident rate for Oct-Jul was 3.47 per 100K hours, with the 21 accidents during July resulting in a noticeable increase over the Oct-Jun rate of 2.78 per 100K hours.

- The Oct-Jul estimated accident rate is 24% lower than the same period in FY22 and 14% lower than the 5 year average for the same period.

- The count of 83 total accidents for the first 10 months of the FY is the third lowest for the 41 years on record. For Oct-Jun, it had been the lowest of any year, but now trails FY20 (81 accidents) and FY21 (80 accidents).

- The 11 accidents for Aerial Application during July resulted in it moving into a tie with Instructional/Training for the highest count and highest percentage of accidents so far in FY23 (each with 17 accidents and each with 20% of the overall total).

Fatal Accidents:

- The FY23 estimated fatal accident rate for Oct-Jul was 0.54 per 100K hours (33% lower than the same period in FY22, 35% lower than the 5 year average for the same period).

- The count of 13 fatal accidents during the first 10 months of the FY was tied for the second lowest Oct-Jul count for the 41 years on record, trailing only FY88 (11 fatal accidents).

Fatalities:

- The FY23 estimated fatality rate for Oct-Jul was 1.17 per 100K hours (15% lower than the same period in FY22, 30% lower than the 5 year average for the same period).

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 5 year average fatal accident rate from CYs 2014-2018 (0.62 per 100K hours) as their baseline for measurement.

- The CY 2019-2023 5 year average fatal accident rate was 0.72 per 100K hours through July 2023.

Lee Roskop

Aviation Safety Coordinator (Rotorcraft)

Fleet Safety Section, AIR-723

Operational Safety Branch, Compliance & Airworthiness Division

817-222-5337

lee.roskop@faa.gov

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