IFR aircraft. Now that the industry has access to this tool again on a more affordable level, the industry must embrace it,” says Tom Judge, executive director of LifeFlight of Maine, chair of the US Helicopter Safety Team Infrastructure Work Group, and former chair of the Association of Air Medical Services board. “Te fixed-wing world is 20 years ahead of the helicopter world in terms of IFR flight, and if the helicopter world is going to survive, it needs to catch up.” Industry experts argue that the key to success is full industry accep-
tance of, and even preference for, IFR operations, from training to operator policy. Having an IFR-capable aircraft does no good if the pilot isn’t IFR rated, current, and confident. “Te industry needs to embrace IFR and ensure pilots are trained,
current, and proficient to take full advantage of this technology and save lives,” says VFS Executive Director Mike Hirschberg. “Dual-engine IFR aircraft crash today because pilots aren’t comfortable with IFR and so choose to fly VFR and lose.” Te US National Airspace System will also require transformation
to accommodate helicopter IFR operations. IFR helicopters have been such a small piece of overall traffic, they currently fly airplane routes (though the FAA and ICAO are currently designing and implementing IFR helicopter-only routes; see “File IFR and Fly TK Routes,” Fall 2019 ROTOR,
bit.ly/FlyTKRoutes). Tere are considerable opportunities to develop helicopter IFR routes that permit more aircraft, especially with
increased drone and air taxi traffic on the horizon. “In New York, for example, the FAA shoehorns helicopters into the
airplane system, and they can get quite the runaround in those crowded routes,” Schaaf says. “Te industry and FAA can work together to develop low-level helicopter IFR routes there and around the country to allow for increased helicopter IFR traffic. ADS-B allows more aircraft to fly with decreased workload for the pilot. “Te technology is here, and now [so is] the aircraft,” Schaaf continues.
“Tere’s a great opportunity for the industry to participate in creating a usable IFR system to support our aircraft.” As SE-IFR aircraft move the industry toward increased IFR opera-
tions, the industry is sure to experience change and growing pains. “Our hope is that in 10 years, the whole industry culture has changed where SE-IFR is natural and filing IFR or requesting a pop-up clearance when the weather deteriorates is second nature,” says Hirschberg. “No one will feel the pressure to push it in marginal VFR, and we’ll experi- ence a significant increase in safety as a result.” HAI’s Summers echoes that sentiment. “Tis is a great example of
cross-industry collaboration and the FAA’s willingness to work with us on a solution. It will be interesting to see how it evolves. Single-engine IFR isn’t going to be an instantaneous success. Te industry needs to be committed to supporting IFR operations and the required training; otherwise, we won’t see the safety results we want.”
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