The International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST), a worldwide organization leading a multi-year effort to reduce the civil helicopter accident rate, has increased its library of safety tools, with 11 documents now available to operators, pilots, instructors, and mechanics.

The safety tools that can be found on the group’s web site (www.IHST.org) offer practical advice and valuable expertise on a wide range of helicopter safety topics.  The toolkits and safety leaflets focus on four primary areas that need to be improved in order to reduce helicopter accidents: safety management, training, maintenance, and equipment/technology.  Eleven safety topics within these primary areas have been highlighted so far and more are being developed.

Safety Management
•    Safety Management System Toolkit – in English and Spanish
•    Airmanship Leaflet  (EHEST)
•    Off Airfield Landing Site Operations Leaflet  (EHEST)
•    NEW  -  Single Pilot Decision Making Leaflet  (EHEST)
•    NEW  -  Pre-Departure Risk Assessment Checklist  (EHEST)
•    Pre-Flight Planning Checklist  (EHEST)
•    Helicopter Ground Operations Signals Document  (EHEST)

Training
•    Training Toolkit – in English and Spanish
•    Safety Considerations Training Leaflet – in English, Spanish, German, Italian & Russian  (EHEST)

Maintenance
•    Maintenance Toolkit – in English and Spanish

Equipment/Technology
•    Helicopter Flight Data Monitoring Toolkit

The documents have been developed by IHST members in North America and by members the European Helicopter Safety Team (EHEST) and some also are available on their web site (http://easa.europa.eu/essi/ehest/) in five languages.

The newest safety tools on the IHST and EHEST web sites are documents that support helicopter pilot decision making and offer a pre-departure risk assessment check list.

“We want to be sure that all our safety information is accessible to the global helicopter community,” says Kim Smith, IHST Co-Chair and Manager of the FAA Rotorcraft Directorate.  “More documents will be created and our safety toolkits will be translated into more languages in the coming months.  The team’s mission to improve helicopter safety is a worldwide effort.”

The International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST) was formed to lead a government and industry cooperative effort to address factors that were affecting an unacceptable helicopter accident rate.
The group’s mission is to reduce the international civil helicopter accident rate by 80 percent by 2016.

This effort is co-chaired by a government member (the FAA) and by an industry member.  Major industry participants include AgustaWestland, the American Helicopter Society International, Bell Helicopter, Bristow Helicopter Ltd, CHC helicopter, Eurocopter, the Flight Safety Foundation, the Helicopter Association of Canada, the Helicopter Association International, Shell Aircraft, and Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation.

IHST members also establish international partnerships in countries with significant helicopter operations and work to encourage the overseas industries to carry out accident analysis and develop safety interventions.  Worldwide partners now supporting the work of the IHST include government and industry participants from the United States, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Australia, India, Russia, and multiple countries in Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East.

More information about the IHST, its reports, its safety tools, and presentations from its 2011 safety symposium can be obtained at its web site at www.IHST.org and its Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/International-Helicopter-Safety-Team-IHST/150529738351608