Content
Heliprops Safety Program
Surviving the Graveyard Shift
The International Helicopter Safety Symposium (IHSS) last November in Fort Worth heard a grim story of fatigue and fatalities from National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) vice chairman Robert Sumwalt. In June 2009, a New Mexico State Police trooper-turned-chief pilot returned to his helicopter after a full day of working and flying to search for a lost hiker. He launched in daylight and clear weather, landed on a mountaintop outside Santa Fe to search on foot, and took off with the hiker in darkness and Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) only to crash and die with the person he sought to save. The NTSB report on the accident identified the probable cause as the pilot’s decision
to take off from the mountain landing site on a moonless night in IMC. Significantly, the contributing factors included pilot fatigue, situational stress, self-induced pressure to fly, and a culture that put mission before safety. Among other recommendations, the NTSB called for the New Mexico Department of Public Safety to implement a comprehensive fatigue management program for its State Police aviation section..
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) now offers fatigue management tools applicable to helicopter pilots and maintainers online at www.mxfatigue.com. The FAA website and YouTube also host a new cautionary video – Grounded.
To continue reading this story and others like it click here and visit our Human AD downloads available in English and Spanish.
The History of Helicopter Safety