FAA’s Rotorcraft Monthly Accident Briefing for June 2021

USHST,

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

The FAA released the updated forecast of rotorcraft flight hours in early July. The forecast decreased the estimated rotorcraft hours for 2020 and 2021, resulting in an increase to the fatal accident rate, fatality rate, and overall accident rate. There will be a final adjustment made to the 2020 flight hours when the FAA releases the results of the 2020 General Aviation and Part 135 Activity Survey in late 2021.

Monthly Summary

Totals: 10 accidents, 1 fatal accident, 1 fatality

-Personal/private accidents accounted for 4 of the 10 accidents during the month.

Cumulative FY21 Summary (Oct – Jun)

FY21, Totals: 71 accidents, 12 fatal accidents, 23 fatalities

Accidents:

- For Oct – Jun, the estimated accident rate was 3.32 per 100K hours.

- The cumulative accident count of 71 for Oct – Jun continued to trail only FY20 (62 accidents Oct – Jun) for the lowest 9 month count for the 39 years on record.

- With 4 accidents in June, the accident count in the personal/private industry remains over 3 times higher than the next closest industry category count.

- Through 9 months of the FY, the personal/private industry has accounted for 37% of accidents, over 10% above recent historical percentages.

Fatal Accidents:

- For Oct – Jun, the estimated fatal accident rate was 0.56 per 100K hours.

- Among the 39 years on record, FY21 tied for the second lowest count of fatal accidents from Oct – Jun.

- Through 9 months, 17% of the accidents in the FY have had a fatality, consistent with long-term historical averages.

Fatalities:

- For Oct – Jun, the estimated fatality rate was 1.08 per 100K hours.

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 0.72 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 0.70 per 100K hours.

Lee Roskop

Fleet Safety Section, AIR-723 Operational Safety Branch, Compliance & Airworthiness Division 817-222-5337 lee.roskop@faa.gov

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