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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Analysis of mishap data is an obvious measure of performance for those who wish to improve flight safety and affect aviation capability development within military forces.
METHODS: This study examined rotary-wing accident information held by UK Ministry of Defence authorities for the 16-yr (inclusive) period from January 2000 through December 2015 in order to ascertain incidence patterns. Serious accidents of military registered aircraft operated by Joint Helicopter Command, the Royal Navy, the Search and Rescue Force, and the Defence Helicopter Flying School were included in the analysis. A secondary intent of the review was to examine the influence of broad-based organizational changes on the overall incidence of rotary-wing accidents across the U.K. Ministry of Defence that grew out of the report published by Charles Haddon-Cave, QC, following his wide-ranging investigation into the catastrophic crash of Royal Air Force Nimrod XV230 that occurred during a routine mission in Southern Afghanistan.
RESULTS: During the 16-yr period between January 2000 and December 2015, 53 rotary-wing accidents occurred. The overall accident rate was 2.32 accident events per 100,000 flight hours. Spatial disorientation accidents remain a prevalent risk in this study, being acknowledged in 43% of accidents. Prior to the Haddon-Cave report, the accident rate was 2.81 events per 100,000 flight hours. Following the report, the accident rate decreased to 1.24 events per 100,000 flight hours.
DISCUSSION: The decrease in the accident rate between 2000 and 2015 shares a temporal association with the adoption and operationalization of the recommendations found in Haddon-Cave's report.Bushby AJR, Powell-Dunford N, Porter WD. UK military rotary-wing accidents: 2000-2015. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2018; 89(9):842-847.
Language: en |