Five Major Safety Issues for Helicopters

Helicopter pilots face unknown challenges in the fixed-wing world. This has made the helicopter community dedicated to improving safety. At Honeywell, we strive to help rotary wing pilots and helicopter operators achieve the highest possible levels of safety. Here are five challenges facing helicopter pilots and operators today.

Helicopter pilots face unknown challenges in the fixed-wing world. This has made the helicopter community dedicated to improving safety. At Honeywell, we strive to help rotary wing pilots and helicopter operators achieve the highest possible levels of safety. Here are five challenges facing helicopter pilots and operators today.

Pilot Fatigue and Workload. In fixed-wing aircraft, pilot fatigue and distractions are a major cause of issues. Operators must improve the scheduling of their pilots, and pilots must clearly communicate their status. Services, such as GoDirect Flight, provides a dedicated team 24/7 to ensure that your flights operate as safely as possible.

Wind. Weather creates many challenges for helicopters, but the most significant is often wind. High winds can cause loss of tail rotor effectiveness, mast bumping or mechanical turbulence as winds react to the terrain or urban environments in which helicopters often operate. Our Primus family of weather radar systems can enable pilots to detect and avoid severe weather so they can accomplish missions even in the most challenging environments.

Maintenance. Helo maintenance is often a challenge, particularly for those operating in harsh conditions that might degrade parts faster than usual. A solution such as Honeywell’s Health and Usage Monitoring can help maintenance crews keep the helicopter running at optimal efficiency.

Terrain. Few fixed-wing pilots operate as close to terrain as helicopter pilots do. This greatly increases the danger of controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) or contact with other obstacles like utility cables and antennae. Situational awareness—and terrain awareness solutions such as Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning Systems—helps helicopter pilots navigate the close terrain.

Disorientation and Instrument Meteorological Conditions. Instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) such as heavy fog, sun glare and a number of other factors can cause disorientation and greatly increase the chance of CFIT and other errors. Advanced weather radar such as our IntuVue 3-D weather radar system can help pilots navigate challenging weather or avoid it altogether.

At Honeywell we provide engines, parts and upgrades for both civilian and military helicopter platforms. Whether your operations involve defense, air ambulance, oil and gas, or firefighting, we can help you maintain safety while accomplishing that mission.