The International Helicopter Safety Team (www.IHST.org) has gathered accident information from countries across the globe and is seeing an encouraging trend of safer civil helicopter operations. Preliminary 2016 data from 50 countries show that most have decreasing totals for both fatal and non-fatal accidents. Looking forward, the teams will focus on more reductions in fatal accidents.
North America - United States
2016: 106 accidents, 17 fatal accidents
2015: 121 accidents, 17 fatal accidents
2014: 138 accidents, 21 fatal accidents
2013: 146 accidents, 30 fatal accidents
North America - Canada
2016: 27 accidents, 2 fatal accidents
2015: 31 accidents, 3 fatal accidents
2014: 34 accidents, 0 fatal accidents
2013: 27 accidents, 6 fatal accidents
Europe (32 countries) **
2016: 52 accidents, 12 fatal accidents
2015: 84 accidents, 17 fatal accidents
2014: 98 accidents, 15 fatal accidents
2013: 103 accidents, 25 fatal accidents
North America - Mexico
2016: 5 accidents, 1 fatal accident
2015: 6 accidents, 2 fatal accidents
2014: 7 accidents, NA fatal accidents
2013: 10 accidents, NA fatal accidents
Brazil
2016: 19 accidents, 5 fatal accidents
2015: 17 accidents, 6 fatal accidents
2014: 20 accidents, 6 fatal accidents
2013: 25 accidents, 4 fatal accidents
New Zealand
2016: 12 accidents, 2 fatal accidents
2015: 17 accidents, 3 fatal accidents
2014: 14 accidents, 5 fatal accidents
2013: 21 accidents, 3 fatal accidents
Japan
2016: 2 accident, 0 fatal accidents
2015: 4 accidents, 2 fatal accidents
2014: 1 accident, 0 fatal accidents
2013: 3 accidents, 0 fatal accidents
CIS/Russia (11 countries) **
2016 30 accidents, 12 fatal accidents
2015 22 accidents, 10 fatal accidents
2014 23 accidents, 12 fatal accidents
2013 19 accidents, 7 fatal accidents
India
2016: 1 accident, 1 fatal accident
2015: 4 accidents, 3 fatal accidents
2014: 0 accidents, 0 fatal accidents
2013: 5 accidents, NA fatal accidents
Total from 50 countries
2016: 254 accidents, 52 fatal accidents
2015: 306 accidents, 63 fatal accidents
2014: 335 accidents, 59 fatal accidents ***
2013: 359 accidents, 75 fatal accidents ***
Using combined data from these 50 countries, total civil helicopter accidents in 2016 were down 17 percent compared to the prior year and fatal accidents also were reduced by 17 percent year-over-year. Comparing 2016 to 2013, total accidents decreased by 29 percent and fatal accidents were cut by 31 percent.
The positive trends can be attributed to a globally expanding culture of safety and to increased cooperation on safety issues between government and the industry and within the helicopter community. Looking forward to 2017, the IHST and its worldwide regional teams will continue to focus on two central objectives:
• Reduce risk and improve safety through widespread and persistent distribution of relevant educational materials.
• Move the industry (manufacturers, operators, pilots and mechanics) to adopt safety practices or equipment that will reduce the number of accidents.
The IHST was formed in 2005 to lead a government and industry cooperative effort to promote helicopter safety and work to reduce accidents and fatalities. More information about the IHST, its reports, safety tools, Reel Safety audio/video presentations and YouTube safety videos can be obtained at its web site at www.IHST.org and on the IHST Facebook page.
(**) Reporting countries in Europe include: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom)
(**) Reporting countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) include: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Russia.
(*** Not Available) 2013 and 2014 fatal accident total does not include data from Mexico. 2013 fatal accident total does not include data from India.
