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Articles for tag Safety First




Jan
25
2024

Wire Strike Accidents Are Top Concern for Aerial Applicators

Posted by Admin

Wire-strike accidents consistently rank as one of the top causes of both total and fatal agricultural aviation accidents. A review by the National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA) of agricultural aviation wire-strike accidents from 2017 to 2021 revealed that 54% of the accidents involved helicopters. For reference, according to the latest FAA GA survey data, helicopters represent 23% of the total ag. aviation fleet and 20% of the hours flown making aerial applications. Regarding the location of the wires struck, 62% of the time the wire was in the field receiving the application; 38% of the time the wire was located along the edge of the field.  [Read More...]



Tags: Safety First VAST
Categories: categorySafety First



Nov
16
2023

European Rotors

Posted by Admin

Come Collaborate to Improve Safety and Operational Excellence Since time began, humans have come together to share stories and discuss ideas that can make the world a better place. In such a diverse community like that of rotorcraft and VTOL, we have lots of amazing people using a wide variety of machines to perform different tasks and activities.  [Read More...]



Tags: Safety First VAST
Categories: categorySafety First



Sep
22
2023

“Safety is not Proprietary”

Posted by Admin

I knew at age 16 I wanted to fly when I saw my first medical helicopter pick up a trauma patient in front of me. I began my career in air medicine at the ripe old age of 24 as a flight nurse at Lifeline in Rockford, Illinois.  It was several years later that safety took on a new meaning when I later flew for AirLife-Denver in Colorado, and our program experienced a fatal crash that rocked me to my core. I was afforded the resources to heal and saw meaningful industry-wide changes develop over time. I still applaud AirLife’s leadership who first supported their people and then mined for lessons learned, sharing them broadly to enhance safety for all.  When I became their le [Read More...]



Tags: Safety First VAST
Categories: categorySafety First



Jul
27
2023

What’s the Warranted Risk You Will Accept?

Posted by Admin

One dark night on the San Diego coast, my crew was launched for LE to intercept a drug-laden “panga” en route from Mexico to the U.S. We got the intel from our command center and launched into the blackness to find our panga. As we headed west over the Pacific Ocean with our radar scanning the surface of the water and our night vision goggles tuned up, we encountered declining ceilings at 1,000 feet AWL. We continued our search pattern at 700 feet and as the evening got cooler, the ceilings got lower. When we went down to 500 feet AWL, we discussed our hard deck of 200 feet AWL and termination of the search. We went down to 300 feet and finally at 200 feet we reached our limit and returned to base. The risk to my crew in declining ceilings was not worth the gain of finding the drug runner.  [Read More...]



Tags: Dave McCarthy Safety First VAST
Categories: categorySafety First



May
23
2023

Getting to Know VAST / USHST

Posted by Admin

I recently assumed the USHST Industry Co-Chair position from Nick Mayhew, who has provided many significant contributions during his tenure.  I want to take this opportunity to share my thoughts and objectives in my new role. But first, a look back at the journey.  I first became involved with the IHST International Helicopter Safety Team in 2010.  As a helicopter pilot with an airline background, I saw an opportunity to provide different aspects of safety, training, navigation and human factors to the vertical flight community.  Not everything will translate, but many aspects do, such as evidence & scenario-based training, flight training devices, electronic flight bags and performance based navigation (PBN). At the onset, some of this seemed foreign, but is clearly recognizable today. Also, over time, the International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST) became the Vertical Aviation Safety Team (VAST) and the U.S. Helicopter Safety Team (USHST) is now a regional organization in the global VAST organization.  I have worked with the USHST’s Infrastructure Working Group, particularly on COPTER IFR/PBN, and we’ve seen important, transformative changes.  [Read More...]



Tags: Chris Baur Safety First VAST
Categories: categorySafety First