GLOBE COMPOSITE IMAGE: HAI/PHYLLIS UTTER; PHOTOS: LEFT, HAI/KEVIN CARTER; CENTER-TOP, WISK AERO; CENTER-MIDDLE, HAI/LAGNIAPPE STUDIOS; CENTER-BOTTOM, ISTOCK/PAKHNYUSHCHYY; RIGHT: HAI/GREGG DEACON
HERE’S A NEW FORCE IN AVIATION safety: the Vertical Aviation Safety Team (VAST; learn more at
vast.aero). The International Helicopter Safety Foundation recently re-formed under a new charter, with
a vision of achieving through cooperation and collaboration a global vertical aviation community with zero fatal accidents. VAST will act as an essential hub for the vertical aviation
community worldwide. By breaking down the artificial silos that exist between the helicopter, unmanned aircraft systems, and autonomous vertical lift aircraft and various mission sectors, such as offshore, air ambulance, and firefighting, VAST will enhance the exchange of safety data, information, and initiatives from the global vertical aviation community, collecting, harmonizing, and disseminating contributions
from all of the many stakeholders in vertical aviation safety: ■ Regional safety teams in Europe, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, India, and Japan, among others
■ Industry associations such as HAI, the European Helicopter Association (EHA), and the New England Helicopter Council
■ Mission-oriented groups, such as HeliOffshore, the Tour Operators Program of Safety, and the Airborne Public Safety Association
■ Manufacturers and other vendors and suppliers to the industry
■ Operators and the vertical aviation workforce.
VAST Improvement To understand how VAST can address industry safety, it’s necessary to see what preceded it. In 1997, the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security set a 10-year goal to reduce the US fatal aviation accident rate by 80%, while identifying the need for strong government–industry partnerships to support the aviation systems of the future. Te resulting Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST)
focused its data-driven safety efforts on US Part 121 air carriers, with stunning success. From 1998 through 2008, the team’s efforts reduced the fatality risk in this aviation sector by 83%. In 2006, the international helicopter community created
the International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST), with a goal of reducing the worldwide helicopter accident rate by 80% in 10 years. Tree basic principles of the CAST model were
retained to guide the new organization: ■ Safety improvement recommendations should be based on accident data
■ Safety improvement recommendations should be
implemented so as to produce measurable results that can be evaluated for effectiveness
■ Stakeholders from that region’s helicopter community should lead the data analysis and resulting safety improve- ment efforts. In other words, the IHST relied on regional helicopter
safety teams to shape data-driven safety initiatives in their respective areas. Te IHST was chartered as a foundation in 2019, becoming the International Helicopter Safety Foundation (IHSF). Te IHSF/IHST has accomplished many of its goals.
Regional helicopter safety teams were begun, and many countries and regions in the world have seen a decline in helicopter accident rates. However, the international rotorcraft industry is on the
verge of a dramatic expansion. When the IHST was founded in 2006, advanced air mobility was just a futuristic concept and the FAA had only just begun issuing the first commercial drone permits. As of Jun. 15, 2021, the number of registered commercial drones was 358,137, many of them for vertical lift aircraft. And, as shown by the Leonardo AW609, Sikorsky S-97 Raider, and Bell V-280 Valor, technological innovation is occurring in more traditional rotorcraft as well. Te word “helicopter” is no longer large enough to hold
all the types of rotorcraft. It was time to build a bigger tent. To expand its efforts to enhance worldwide safety in all areas of the vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) industry, the IHSF organized under a new charter and in 2021 became VAST.
Regional Safety Teams One thing that won’t change with VAST is the importance of the regional safety teams. Tese teams of volunteers and other stakeholders in a particular country or region will continue to lead initiatives in their respective areas, with Brazilians in charge of creating safety programs for Brazil, Europeans working to address their local issues, and so on. However, VAST was created in part to ensure that the
regional teams can easily share safety data, information, and initiatives in a central location, an approach that makes more efficient use of safety resources. “Te real work will continue to reside within the regional safety teams and global VTOL safety stakeholders,” says Chris Hill, former manager of aviation safety for the US Coast Guard and currently HAI’s director of safety and a member of the steering committee of the US Helicopter Safety Team (USHST). “If they’re doing something to enhance safety in our industry, not only do we want them to keep doing it, but we want to provide them with the mechanism to propagate that information across the globe more efficiently.”
JUNE 2021 ROTOR 33
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