IHST Releases Three New Helicopter Safety Bulletins for 2014

WASHINGTON DC – The International Helicopter Safety Team (www.IHST.org), in cooperation with safety experts from throughout the civil helicopter industry, has released three more safety bulletins aimed at enhancing helicopter operations and reducing accidents.  

The safety bulletins offer important information for helicopter pilots while they are flying and for pilots, operators, and instructors as they prepare for flight.  The new safety bulletin topics are:

·        Hazard Identification – If You See Something . . . Say Something
·        Safety Management Systems – How to Get Started for the Small Operator
·        Safety Management Systems for Certified Flight instructors

The IHST now offers a total of 16 safety bulletins that individual pilots and instructors, and operators with small fleets can use to improve safety awareness and reinforce good safety habits.  Each safety bulletin provides a wealth of concise information that helicopter operators will be able to use for general reference and as a training tool.  

The documents are accessible within the “Resources” section of the IHST web site.  They join 13 other safety bulletins released by the IHST, and include topics such as:  controlled flight into terrain, density altitude, emergency decision making, handling autorotations, gaining control over loss-of-control accidents, visibility and minimums, inadvertent entry into cloud or fog, and recurrent training.

The IHST promotes safety and works to reduce accidents.  The organization was formed in 2005 to lead a government and industry cooperative effort to address factors that were affecting an unacceptable helicopter accident rate.  Prior to 2006, the number of worldwide civil helicopter accidents was rising at a rate of 2.5 percent per year.  Since 2006, the number of accidents worldwide has been decreasing by an annual rate of 2 percent.  More information about the IHST, its reports, safety tools, and presentations can be obtained at its web site at www.IHST.org and on the IHST Facebook page.