The ATSB says pilot of this UH-1H was not using the upper torso restraint during lifting operations that preceded the 2018 crash.
Helicopter pilots engaged in aerial firefighting, lifting and other vertical reference operations – operations in which they must repeatedly look down in order to position the helicopter – face an elevated risk of serious injury in case of a crash because of the unsuitability of standard restraints, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) says.
The ATSB recommended research to develop better restraints that could reduce the added risks of vertical reference operations.
The bureau’s recommendation was included in its final report on an April 17, 2018, accident in which the pilot of a Garlick Helicopters UH-1H suffered serious head injuries when the helicopter’s engine failed and it struck trees and a riverbed during a forced landing near Talbingo in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales. The helicopter was destroyed.
The …
