3rd 2010 meeting of the European Helicopter Safety Analysis Team (EHSAT) on 6 Dec at EASA in Cologne
The final EHEST Report of 2000-2005 European Helicopter Accidents was formally presented at the International Helicopter Safety Seminar (IHSS 2010) on 3-4 October which, for the first time, took place in Europe. This report is the main deliverable of 2010 and follows on from the Preliminary Report published in 2009 which covered the first 186 accidents to be analysed. The final report covers 311 reports, showing the significant progress in analysis over the last two years.
This report was also presented at the 4th EASA Rotorcraft Symposium that took place in Cologne on 8-9 December, a very successful event attended by more than 200 representatives from the helicopter community (manufacturers, operators and regulators) across Europe, the US, and Russia.
In parallel the EHSAT Regional Teams continue the analysis of helicopter accidents which occurred in Europe after 2005, and for some of them, like the UK EHSAT, of accidents before 2000. The Regional Teams will continue the analysis of accidents reports at the rate of approximately one year of accidents per year. The information gained will be used to monitor the effects of future safety enhancements and to identify any emerging safety issues related, for instance, to operational, technological and regulatory developments.
The EHSAT is also represented on the sub group of the CAST ICAO Common Taxonomy Team (CICTT) tasked to revise the helicopter section of the taxonomy. This will allow better coding of helicopter accidents by the Accident Investigation Bureaus and the National Aviation Authorities using ECCAIRS. The EHSAT also works on improving exposure data; the aim is to provide, by mid 2011, an estimate of flight hours by aircraft categories in Europe, which will allow better estimation of accident rates.
3rd 2010 meeting of the European Helicopter Safety Implementation Team (EHSIT) on 6-7 Dec at EASA and in the Miragem hotel in Cologne
The EHSIT processes the data analysed by the EHSAT to develop, implement and monitor safety enhancement action plans across Europe. These action plans will contribute to achieving the shared IHST/EHEST objective of reducing the accident rate by 80% by 2016, with emphasis on European safety.
Gilles Bruniaux, Eurocopter Fleet Safety, has joined José Esteve as EHSIT industry co-Chair.
The EHSIT is composed of three Specialist Teams on Operations and SMS, on Training, and on Regulations.
Stefano Burigana, Elilombrada, gave a report on the EHSIT ST Ops & SMS. Large operators have a Flight Ops Department, FDM data, and often sophisticated Quality and Safety Management Systems. Small operators are often in a very different situation. SMS is essential to identify, assess, and manage everyone’s risks and the IHST/EHEST is focusing on two key products: the IHST SMS Toolkit (available free of charge on www.ihst.org) and the Helicopter version of IS-BAO (see below) both of which are designed to assist in particular the smaller operator.
Based on the EHSAT data, the EHSIT ST Ops & SMS main objective is to support small operators on operational risk management. The Team has almost completed the development of the Pre-flight risk assessment checklist. The Tool is customisable and can also be used either in electronic or in paper format. The goal is to make the pilots aware of their mission risks and to take actions to mitigate these risks. For HEMS and SAR missions it is not considered realistic using this CL before the flights. But the tool could be used at the beginning of the shift or during the day as the conditions evolve.
The Team is also working on guidance on how to develop SOPs, based on existing and future regulatory material.
EHSIT co-Chair Jose ESTEVE, INAER and NewEHA, gave a presentation on a Methodology for Safety Assurance usable in the context of an SMS. The goal is to provide assistance to operators to make intelligent safety performance decisions based on estimated and observed risk. The approach which requires assembling reference data by sectors will be very useful for small operators who don’t have enough flight hours and occurrences to realistically measure their safety risks.
The EHSIT supports the development of the Helicopter version of IS-BAO. An agreement to develop IS-BAO (HE) was signed at the Berlin Airshow on 9 June 2010 by newEHA, the Helicopter Association International (HAI), the British Helicopter Association (BHA), and the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC). IS-BAO is a set of performance-based standards that addresses operations, maintenance, training and other related issues. As well as providing an SMS template it also provides a complete verification audit programme; benefits are foreseen in particular for small operators. Development of the helicopter version is performed by an international team led in Europe by Bob Sheffield, SHELL aircraft.
The EHSIT ST Training has developed one Safety Leaflet addressing important safety considerations such as: Vortex Ring; Loss of Tail Rotor Effectiveness; Dynamic and Static Rollover; and Loss of Visual References. The Team also produced a video on Flying in the Degraded Visual Environment (DVE), which will be published on the EHEST and IHST websites in the first quarter of 2011. These first deliverables were officially presented at IHSS in October. The Team has also the more ambitious project to develop a European Instructor Training Manual.
The EHSIT ST Regulation has aggregated all related Intervention Recommendations coming from the EHSAT and prioritised them using two criteria accounting fatalities. The top five priority subjects are: 1. Data recording; 2. Inadvertent entry into IMC/DVE; 3. Flotation, markings and exits; 4. Authority oversight; and 5. Seat and harness design. The final products of the ST Regulation may take the form of proposals for future rulemaking tasks (using standard processes) addressed to NAA, EASA, or ICAO depending on applicability; AMC/GM; Safety Information Bulletins (SIBs published by EASA Airworthiness), or recommendations for best practices (voluntary adoption).
Chaired by Dave Huntzinger, Eurocopter, the EHSIT ST Maintenance was created in April 2010. It brings together European and US experts who have volunteered to develop an IHST Maintenance Toolkit. Work started on the Toolkiit on the basis of SHELL Aircraft material. Material is currently being developed by David Casson, Casson Aviation Ltd, and is being reviewed by a core team including US and EASA maintenance specialists. The Toolkit is planned to be delivered by first quarter 2011 and will complete the series featuring so far the IHST SMS Toolkit, the IHST Training Toolkit, the IHST Risk Assessment Toolkit, and the IHST Helicopter Flight Data Monitoring Toolkit – all available free of charge on www.ihst.org. Other maintenance related products are envisaged such as a Pre-shift risk assessment checklist.
2nd meeting of the European Helicopter Safety Team (EHEST) on 7 Dec in the Miragem hotel in Cologne
David Huntzinger, Eurocopter, was unanimously nominated as new EHEST co-Chair in lieu of Jean-Pierre Dedieu, who has retired. Gilles Bruniaux, Eurocopter, was unanimously nominated as new industry EHSIT co-Chair. Congratulations to David and to Gilles, and to Jean-Pierre for the fantastic work performed as EHEST co-Chair and IHST EXCOM Member since 2006.
EHST Communication SG Leader Duncan Trapp reported that a comprehensive list of organisations and existing distribution networks is under development. This list will be used as an ‘entry point’ to the helicopter community, focusing on the GA/small operators but also reaching out to pan-European organisations and linking to International forums. The SG has also assembled a list of events where small operators and private pilots can be engaged.
IHSS 2011 will take place in Texas and the dates are being finalised. The following formula was suggested: IHSS will be run every year in a different region of the world and EHEST events will be organised every two years in Europe. The European events should be shorter and more practical and will focus on the presentation and demonstration of practical tools to the operators and on getting feedback. The European events could be associated to Helitech or to other events as well.
Publications and Conferences in brief
The Final EHEST Analysis Report of 2000-2005 European Helicopter Accidents was first presented at IHSS 2010 on 3 Oct.
A mixed European-US Team is developing the Helicopter version of IS-BAO to be delivered mid 2011.
A mixed European-US Team is developing the IHST Maintenance Toolkit, to be delivered in the first quarter of 2011.
Jaume Bosch, SEPLA, EHSAT/EHSIT Spain, delivered a presentation on “Safe Helicopter Operations in Aerial Firefighting” at the Aerial Firefighting International Conference 2010 on 2-3 Dec in Málaga, Spain.
The 4th EASA Rotorcraft Symposium took place on 8-9 Dec in Cologne. EHEST gave a presentation on day 1, afternoon session. The agenda and all presentations are published on .
For further information please contact: EHEST@easa.europa.eu
by EHSAT co-chair Michel Masson, EASA, Clément Audard, EASA, and EHEST Communication SG Leader Duncan Trapp, CHC Helicopter
