Fatal accidents involving helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) flights in the United States have declined dramatically since 2008 — the deadliest year on record, when nine fatal crashes claimed 29 lives.
The next nine fatal accidents were spread over a period of more than four years — two in 2009, four in 2010, one each in 2011 and 2012, and one in the early days of 2013. Together, those crashes killed 28 people (see Table 1, p. 24).
Industry representatives credit the decline to HEMS operators’ voluntary adoption — in advance of anticipated new regulatory requirements from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) — of a range of safety initiatives, including safety management systems (SMS), flight operational quality assurance (FOQA), improved education and training, helicopter terrain awareness and warning systems (HTAWS) and, perhaps most importantly, night vision goggles (NVGs).
“There’s no other single advancement that’s had such an immediate impac…
