The United States Helicopter Safety Team (USHST), a group made up of FAA and industry representatives, shared some good news this week regarding helicopter accident statistics. The group analyzed accident data during two three-year periods and found that the accident record has improved by 21 percent.
USHST compared accidents that occurred during the three-year period from 2009 through 2011 with the years 2000, 2001 and 2006. FAA public affairs officer Tony Molinaro said the earlier three-year period was from a baseline data analysis used by the International Helicopter Safety Team. The number of accidents dropped from 523 during that period to 415 in the years from 2009 to 2011.
