Stephen Stock, an investigative reporter for NBC, talks about the hazards posed by night vision goggles improperly installed in much of the nation’s EMS helicopter fleet. I was happy to offer Stock my thoughts. The FAA refused to comment on camera.
Imagine how difficult it must be for Rand Foster to go to work
The NTSB blamed the helicopter crash that killed 9 firefighters on the the helicopter’s operator. Basically, the NTSB concluded that the helicopter crashed because it was overloaded. But today a jury disagreed, deciding that the Sikorsky helicopter crashed because one of its two engines failed. The jury handed down a $70 million verdict against
And everyone walked away.
The video is proof that if it has a properly designed fuel system, a helicopter need not catch fire after an otherwise survivable accident.
Hope the folks at the Robinson Helicopter factory take note.
Can any question remain about the R44’s tendency to roll over and catch fire? It happened again yesterday, in Glendale Arizona. This time, the helicopter had barely gotten off the ground. 
Fortunately, no one was hurt. But the story is becoming all too familiar. According to the Arizona Republic:
A mechanic was testing
Robinson Helicopter Company likes to say that its helicopters are safe in crashes. According to an excerpt from Robinson Safety Notice SN-10:
The R22 and R44 have demonstrated excellent crashworthiness as long as the pilot flies the aircraft all the way to the ground . . .The ship may roll over and be
Eurocopter’s AStar is the most popular tour helicopter in the United States. But according to some tour operators, the helicopter is dangerous and defective. They use it anyway because it is the most profitable.
No, I’m not making this up.
Problems with the AStar 350?
One of Las Vegas’ largest tour operators, Heli-USA, is
Power lines can be virtually invisible from the air. The trick to avoiding them is, paradoxically, not to try to find them. Instead, the pilot should look for the towers from which they are strung. Once the pilot has the towers in sight, he should choose one and fly directly over it, rather tha
n between them.
The NTSB blamed the pilot for the last Blue Hawaiian helicopter crash into the side of a mountain. The NTSB concluded that while flying near bad weather, the pilot inadvertently entered clouds, became disoriented, and lost control of the helicopter. According to the NTSB, the probable cause of the accident was:
The pilot’s inadequate decision by which he
Philip, South Dakota is the site of the second fatal Robinson R66 crash. This time, only the pilot was on board the helicopter. The first fatal R66 crash, which happened in July, killed two.
How does the R66 safety record stack up so far? 
Since there are only 41 R66’s on the US registry, the record stacks
A helicopter carrying workers to an oil rig attempts to land on the rig’s platform. The helicopter hits something on the rig, spins out of control, and crashes into the sea. All the helicopter’s occupants are killed.
Sadly, with more than 5000 oil rigs operating off the US shores, oil rig-related helicopter crashes are