WORK SAFE By Zac Noble
SEE
scenes from this year’s Rotors ’n Ribs Fly-In
Rotorcraft and Safety Go Hand in Hand
Rotors ’n Ribs fly-in combines fun with vital safety messages from industry experts.
I
N EARLY JULY OF THIS YEAR, I had the opportunity to take part in the annual Rotors ’n Ribs helicopter
fly-in in Goshen, Indiana. Last year was my first time attending the show, and I was so impressed with the crowd and the overwhelming generosity of the locals that I recommended to HAI leadership that we continue to support and sponsor this fantastic gathering of rotorcraft lovers in the upper midwestern United States. Nearly 40 helicopters across various brands and models flew in for the event. There was an assortment of Airbus, Bell, Leonardo, and even homebuilt rotorcraft products on display. They came from as nearby as Fort Wayne, Indiana, but also originated in the farther-away Chicago, Illinois, and Detroit, Michigan, areas.
Safety Optimization Several industry experts spoke at the show about safety issues important to all of us in helicopter aviation, including Chris Holder, eastern US sales manager at Concorde Batteries. Chris spoke to the
crowd about how to prepare a new aircraft battery and then maintain it for maximum durability and longevity. Afterward, I took the stage to talk about an alarming trend I see from my seat at HAI: poor fuel management (photo above). I’ve been watching this issue for a few years, and occasionally I’ll request data from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on the topic. Current NTSB statistics show that US operators have crashed more than seven gen- eral aviation air- craft each
60 ROTOR SEPTEMBER 2023
month over the past five years due to poor fuel management: namely, fuel exhaus- tion, fuel starvation, or fuel contamination. To clarify, fuel exhaustion means the
aircraft is depleted of fuel, whereas fuel starvation means the aircraft has run out of fuel on the selected tank. In the latter situation, there’s still fuel in the aircraft, but the fuel selector switch hasn’t been placed on a tank with fuel available. Fuel contamination, of course, means simply that the fuel isn’t pure or capable of com- bustion. (See my September 2022 Work Safe column, “Fuel for Thought,” for more on fuel contamination.) We in the general aviation industry
have to do better. I’ve had an engine fail while flying because a fuel-line “B” nut backed off in flight. Had the flight ended in a crash, I’m sure it would have been cited as a fuel- related accident. During preflight, put your hands on the fuel lines to check for
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