Articles for category Safety
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Feb
06
2023
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Posted by Admin
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Last March, I informed Lyn Burks, owner and editor-in-chief of this magazine, that this November/December issue would be my last column for Rotor Pro. Before I fade off into the journalistic sunset, I’d like to share with you how I came to write my column, my motivation to do so and discuss how, in my view, the industry has changed since I joined this magazine.
The wonderful opportunity to become a columnist for Rotor Pro happened more by unexpected opportunity than by design. In 1982, when I was working full time as chief pilot for UCSD Medical Center’s Life Flight program piloting a Bell 222 single pilot IFR in San Diego, I also attended San Diego State University full time and graduated with a degree in journalism. I could have never imagined I would one day have my own column. My first published article for Rotor and Wing magazine back in 1983 was entitled “Life and Death—an EMS Pilot’s Viewpoint.” In that same year, I was awarded the first Golden Hour Award presented by Helicopter Association International (HAI). The now annual award recognizes a person’s efforts to further the helicopter air ambulance concept in America.
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Tags:
CRM
Golden Hour
Helicopter Safety
randy mains
Categories:
Career Development
Safety
Opinion-Editorial
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Oct
17
2022
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Posted by Admin
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According to the historical website marconiheritage.org, the world’s first air-to-ground wireless communications occurred on 27th August 1910 when Canadian aviation pioneer John Alexander Douglas McCurdy transmitted a Morse code message to Henry M. Horton, as McCurdy flew over the Sheepshead Bay race track in Brooklyn.
The first voice communications between an aircraft and the ground took place in 1915, when the Royal Flying Corps’ Captain C.E. Prince radioed Captain J.M. Furnival as he circled overhead. 'Hello Furnie. If you can hear me now it will be the first time speech has ever been communicated to an aeroplane in flight,” said Captain Prince. He then added, “Hello Furnie, if you can hear me dip your wings” -- and Captain Furnival waggled his wings in response.
[Read More...]
Tags:
aircraft communication systems
Flightcell Internationa
land mobile radios
P25 ground comms
Sikorsky R-4 helicopter
Categories:
Helicopter Sectors
Safety
Training
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Jun
20
2022
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Posted by Admin
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Helicopter pilot flight training can be hazardous for reasons I will highlight in this article. I’ve been a flight instructor in the military, a senior instructor for Bell Helicopter in Iran teaching pilots how to be instructor pilots, an instructor and a flight examiner for 13 years while working for the Royal Police Air Wing in the Sultanate of Oman, and a type-rating instructor and type-rating examiner in the Bell 412EP and Bell 212 while working for Abu Dhabi Aviation. While in Abu Dhabi, I trained and examined airline transport pilots hailing from more than 20 countries. In my 13,000-hour flying career, I have developed habits I use while training that I pass along to you to, hopefully, keep you safe.
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Tags:
aviation safety
aviation training
Helicopter Safety
Helicopter Training
my two cents worth
randy mains
Rotorcraft Pro
Categories:
Safety
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Jun
06
2022
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Posted by Admin
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If anyone ever doubted that smaller helicopter operators want to deploy fully featured, voluntary Safety Management Systems (SMS) in their companies, that doubt was dispelled in 2021. This was when Helicopter Association International (HAI) surveyed its members and found that a significant number of them wanted access to turnkey SMS support programs designed for small helicopter operators.
In response to this desire for comprehensive voluntary safety management, HAI sought bids from 14 SMS software providers to help the association launch an affordable, members-only turnkey solution called the HAI SMS Program. Although all 14 bids passed muster, three were so well suited to HAI members’ needs that the association chose them as HAI SMS providers. For the record, these SMS providers are Air Charter Safety Foundation, Baldwin Safety and Compliance, and WYVERN Ltd.
[Read More...]
Tags:
Air Charter Safety Foundation
Baldwin Safety and Compliance
Helicopter Safety Management Systems (SMS)
WYVERN Ltd.
Categories:
Safety
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Mar
07
2022
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Posted by Admin
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The air tour industry has been heavily scrutinized in recent years. Whether for safety concerns by the general public and legislators, noise complaints, or limiting access to National Parks, operators in this sector have been faced with challenging times. Intensify the situation with the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and these companies barely continued to keep the lights on this year. Fortunately, air tour operators are resilient and resourceful with helping to address these types of issues. They provide a valued service to passengers who eagerly seek out this mode of sightseeing and who might not otherwise have access to the unique and beautiful locations throughout the world.
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Tags:
Helicoper Tour Operators
TOPS
Tour Operators Program of Safety
Categories:
Helicopter Sectors
Safety
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Aug
30
2021
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Posted by Admin
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In February of this year, the United States Helicopter Safety Team, with support from Helicopter Association International, Airbus, and Frasca International produced a short video titled 56 Seconds to Live.
In this chilling video, the viewer is taken on a dramatized journey, which shows a pilot making all the wrong decisions during the process of accepting a flight, which then leads to an IIMC condition, culminating in his death. At the very end his spouse and child stand at his grave.
Given the challenging nature of helicopter air ambulance (HAA) work, IIMC accidents have always been a large part of HAA accident stats over the decades. I often wonder: are we getting better as an industry?
[Read More...]
Tags:
Editors Letter
Rotorcraft Pro Editor Lyn Burks
Categories:
Safety
Opinion-Editorial
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Jul
05
2021
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Posted by Admin
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All over the world, helicopter flight training is at the heart of every facet of helicopter operations. Whether training a new hire, or providing recurrent training to seasoned pilots, the quality and quantity of training can have an impact on areas like accident rates, safety in operations, and direct operating costs.
As is in most industries, technology is advancing rapidly and making simulation training more realistic and cost effective. It used to be that only larger helicopters like the Sikorsky S76, Bell 412, or Airbus Super Puma would have simulators available for clients to train in. Now even light twins such as Airbus H135 and single engine helicopters such as Bell 505, Airbus H125 and Robinson R44 have simulators available for training.
[Read More...]
Tags:
Entrol
flight simulation
flight simulators
FlightSafety International
FRASCA
Helicopter Simulator Advance
HeliSim
Rotorsim
Categories:
Training
Safety
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Jun
21
2021
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Posted by Admin
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Have you heard the term “evidence based training” (EBT)? It’s sometimes referred to as “competency based training.” EBT is a relatively new approach to flight training developed in 2013 on behalf of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) that was led by a group of airline industry experts to increase the effectiveness of pilot training to meet the challenges of airline operations in the 21st century. If the past is any indication of the future, I think we will hear more about EBT in our industry.
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Tags:
Competency-Based Education in Aviation
Evidence Based Training
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
Categories:
Career Development
Training
Safety
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Apr
12
2021
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Posted by Admin
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WASHINGTON DC – As a result of its comprehensive analysis of fatal helicopter accidents, the U.S. Helicopter Safety Team (www.USHST.org) determined that loss of control while inflight has been a leading factor in accident causes, especially involving light helicopters. Current light helicopters have flight characteristics that are challenging and demanding of pilot workload. In response, the USHST is moving forward with some first steps to increase safety by encouraging the development and installation of stability augmentation systems and autopilot devices that increase the flight stability of light helicopters.
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Categories:
Safety
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Mar
29
2021
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Posted by Admin
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By inventing technological advances that allow Health, Usage and Monitoring Systems (HUMS) to expand to the smallest of rotorcraft, GPMS is democratizing a powerful tool that not long ago was reserved only for heavy helicopters.
GPMS launched its compact, speedy and lightweight next-gen Foresight MX in 2018, and it's already proving its worth many times over.
GPMS co-founders Eric Bechhoefer and Jack Taylor met at Goodrich (now Collins Aerospace), where they worked on first-generation HUMS that weren't feasible for 95 percent of aircraft because they cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, weighed more than 100 pounds, and required signal processing experts to interpret data. A former Naval aviator, Bechhoefer decided he was going to re-engineer and put the product within reach of all sizes of helicopter.
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Categories:
Company Profiles
Safety