It is difficult to compare results in terms of safety because
no universal data base exists for helicopter accidents. However, several reports on
this subject are released every year by various organizations.
It is customary in the profession to compare accident
rates, keeping in mind that the accident rate
is equal to the number of accidents divided by the
number of flight hours,” explained Michel Soulhiard
from Product Support Integrity.
But there is always
the problem of defining precisely what qualifies as
an “accident”; despite the indications provided by
Annex 13 of the ICAO (International Civil Aviation
Organization), the definition remains open to interpretation.
“Often, only material damages
are examined because the interpretation is not
the same throughout the world,” continued
Mr. Soulhiard.
“Take the case of a hard landing for
example. At Eurocopter, we often classify this in
the accidents category, but we are not certain that
the other manufacturers do the same.”
Finally, to work out an accident rate, the amount of
flight hours performed by the fleet must be known,
and at Eurocopter a specific organization was created
a long time ago to monitor this data.
In the final analysis, figures show that the accident
rate for Eurocopter aircraft is lower than the rate
for all manufacturers combined.
See insets for
examples.
The figures show that the fatality rate for Eurocopter aircraft is twice as low as the rate for all other manufacturers combined.
