Proposed changes in regulations governing helicopter emergency medical services (EMS)1 operations — including a plan to institute stricter limits for weather minimums and flight crew rest requirements — are crucial to improving safety, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says.
“In the past year, 12 total and seven fatal HEMS [helicopter EMS] accidents have occurred, some of which might have been prevented with the implementation of these rules,” said NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman, in comments submitted in January in response to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM).2
The NPRM, which also contains provisions addressing commercial helicopter operations, Part 91 general helicopter operations, and load manifest requirements for Part 135 aircraft, was published in October 2010 in the U.S. Federal Register. A…
