FAA Rotorcraft Monthly Accident Briefing - June
Attached is the Rotorcraft Monthly Accident Briefing for June 2023 (ninth 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
June Totals: 5 accidents, 0 fatal accidents, 0 fatalities
- The five accidents during June were the lowest total for the month of June for the 41 years on record.
- This was only the second time where June has had less than 10 accidents for the 41 years on record (only other was FY15).
- The zero fatal accidents/zero fatalities during June also had only happened one previous time in June for the 41 years on record (only other was FY07).
FY23 Summary
FY23 Totals: 59 accidents, 9 fatal accidents, 21 fatalities
- All count and rate metrics for the nine month period of Oct-Jun showed improvement when measured against the same period for both the previous FY and the 5 year average.
- The FAA updated the forecast rotorcraft flight hours for both 2022 and 2023 (both were increased) since last month’s briefing. This change is reflected in this month’s rate metrics.
- The fatal accident and fatality total each decreased by 1 when compared to the previous Oct-May count. There was no “intent for flight” for the fatal accident that occurred in May, so it was removed from all three metrics (accidents, fatal accidents, fatalities).
- A few accidents from earlier months in the FY that had initially been reported as accidents were changed to incidents.
Accidents (include both fatal & non-fatal accidents):
- The FY23 estimated accident rate for Oct-Jun was 2.78 per 100K hours (34% lower than same period in FY22, 26% lower than 5 year average for same period).
- The count of 59 total accidents for the first 9 months of the FY was the lowest for that time period for the 41 years on record.
Fatal Accidents:
- The FY23 estimated fatal accident rate for Oct-Jun was 0.42 per 100K hours (51% lower than same period in FY22, 49% lower than 5 year average for same period).
- The count of 9 fatal accidents during the first 9 months of the FY was the lowest Oct-Jun count for the 41 years on record.
- FY23 is only the second FY in the 41 years on record to have 4 or more months with 0 fatal accidents.
- FY23 continues to trend away from the higher fatal accident rates observed during the most recent 5 FYs.
Fatalities:
- The FY23 estimated fatality rate for Oct-Jun was 0.99 per 100K hours (32% lower than same period in FY22, 40% lower than 5 year average for 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 0.71 per 100K hours through June 2023.
Lee Roskop
Aviation Safety Coordinator (Rotorcraft)
Fleet Safety Section, AIR-723
Operational Safety Branch, Compliance & Airworthiness Division
817-222-5337
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