by Gene Trainor, FAA Rotorcraft Standards Branch
Every day, FAA Rotorcraft Standards Branch employees review accident reports. One thing is clear. We could substantially cut the accident rate if pilots stopped flying into bad weather.
This fact has not been lost on the helicopter community. The Helicopter Association International (HAI) has been promoting its Land & Live campaign since 2013. It’s a simple concept: land your helicopter if you face hazards that jeopardize safety.
“As pilot in command, only you can decide if you should continue the flight,’’ states HAI’s Land & Live web page. “Will you make the promise to always land when safety’s at stake?”
The FAA Rotorcraft Standards Branch promotes a similar message through this column, safety forums, and meetings with industry and advocacy groups. If the weather looks tricky, delay takeoff or land.
Industry-government teams such as the International Helicopter Safety Foundation (IHSF) and the United States Helicopter Safety Team (USHST) participate as well with weather-related videos, essays, and reports at ihst.org and ushst.org respectively. In September 2017, the USHST released 22 helicopter safety enhancements (H-SEs) to improve safety. Four H-SEs were related to visibility or unintended flight in instrument meteorological conditions (UIMC) and are available at ushst.org.
This message is getting through to the helicopter community. FAA records show that about 19-percent of the 104 U.S. fatal accidents from 2009 through 2013 were caused by UIMC, icing, wind shear, or thunderstorms. That number dropped to about 15-percent for the 94 fatal accidents recorded from 2014 through 2018.
UIMC is when a pilot inadvertently flies from visual flight rules into IMC, losing visual reference to terrain because of clouds, fog, thunderstorms, haze, or other conditions. If pilots consequently fly closer to the ground, they can encounter wires, trees, or towers.
Experts involved in the FAA Weather Technology in the Cockpit (WTIC) program are researching ways to improve the presentation of weather information in the cockpit, weather technology and information, weather-related pilot training, and pilots’ ability to interpret weather information. Recommendations are expected this fall.
Additional work is underway to enhance the Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) tool that runs as a desktop application. According to Ian Johnson, FAA WTIC human factors lead, the tool is designed for low-altitude operations and can provide information on ceiling, visibility, flight category, winds, relative humidity, and temperature.
As Johnson notes, “WTIC looks at how weather information is rendered and its parameters (accuracy, update rate, forecast/nowcast, etc.). It also includes identifying issues with weather sources and procedures. Helicopters fly/land in areas that frequently do not have weather sensors or weather cameras. If pilots are forced to rely on information from a more distant sensor, it may not represent current weather conditions at the landing site.”
Until we determine better ways to address weather issues, the FAA recommends that pilots follow IHSF’s eight golden rules:
- Always obtain an aviation forecast
- Expect conditions to be worse than forecast.
- Check actual conditions against the forecast.
- Identify alternative routes and suitable diversion airfields just in case.
- Always carry enough fuel for unexpected situations.
- Scan the sky and horizon for possible problems and note local surface winds.
- Check weather reports while flying.
- Be prepared to divert, turn around, or land. Make sure you have an alternative course of action should weather conditions preclude the completion of the flight as planned.
In other words, don’t be afraid to land — and live.
Gene Trainor is an FAA communications specialist. He was previously a technical writer for the FAA Rotorcraft Standards Branch in Fort Worth, Texas.