Helicopters

The U.S. Helicopter Safety Team, a collaborative effort of government and industry leaders focused on improving helicopter safety, this week announced 17 educational classes to run during the upcoming Heli-Expo in Dallas March 6-9. The USHST says the bumper list of educational seminars at Heli-Expo represents the largest number of individual workshops the group has […]

Torrance, California-based Robinson Helicopter recently reached a significant milestone, rolling out its 12,000th helicopter. With international sales being a major percentage of Robinson’s business, it should come as no surprise that the commemorative helicopter, an R66, will be delivered overseas to Hover Dynamics, a Robinson dealer in South Africa. The R66 will eventually enter into […]

The Bell Helicopter 505 Jet Ranger X, a five-seat multi-mission helicopter, has achieved certification by Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA). The light helicopter progressed quickly through certification after its unveiling at Heli Expo in 2014. “The Bell 505 is truly a game changer in the short light single market, and we are proud of the […]

An FAA review of helicopter incidents and accidents over the past five years has identified several accidents in which loss of control (LOC) was encountered immediately after liftoff while light on the skids/gear, or from other issues caused by missed checklist items. With those operational issues in mind, the agency recently issued a safety alert […]

The FAA this week granted a supplemental type certificate (STC) for installation of Garmin’s GTX 345 ADS-B In/Out and the GTX 335 ADS-B Out transponders on more than 60 models of helicopter. The approval is expected to provide a simplified path to ADS-B certification for aircraft on the Part 27 approved model list (AML). Both […]

Not to be outdone after creating a mere human-powered helicopter a few years ago, a number of University of Maryland undergrad students from the A. James Clark School of Engineering on August 26 successfully launched the Solar Gamera, a solar-powered helicopter. First flights, which you can watch below, took place on the engineering fields of […]

U.S. Coast Guard Search and Rescue (SAR) pilots provide assistance to individuals in distress in maritime environments, and also perform drug interdiction and national security missions. The HH-65 Dolphin and MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters are the Coast Guard’s primary Search and Rescue platforms; fixed-wing aircraft are also utilized. Lt. Cmdrs. Mike Baird and Ron Bledsoe, both […]

The U.S. Helicopter Safety Team (USHST) said a recently completed analysis of fatal accidents that occurred between 2009 and 2013 will become the basis for a number of safety recommendations in addition to targeted community outreach efforts. Between 2016 and 2019, the USHST, an industry-government partnership, wants to see a reduction in fatal accidents. The […]

Airbus Group says it is developing the CityAirbus, an autonomous air taxi for individual passenger and cargo transport, scheduled to fly late next year. Launched in February, the vehicle is being developed by Airbus Helicopters. Studies of multi-passenger transport are also in the works. The vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) air taxi would use electric propulsion and multiple-ducted […]

Two Bell Helicopter employees were killed Wednesday during a flight test in rural Texas near the company’s XworX facility in Arlington. The pilots were testing Bell’s new fly-by-wire 525 Relentless turbine twin when the helicopter crashed in a field. There were no other injuries. The crash is being investigated by the FAA and NTSB, and […]