The Vertical Aviation Safety Team (VAST), Helicopter Association International (HAI), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the United States Helicopter Safety Team (USHST) together will host the 2022 VAST Global Conference October 4-6, 2022, at the Hurst Conference Center, in the Fort Worth suburb of Hurst, Texas. The conference is an outgrowth of the FAA International Rotorcraft Safety Conferences first held in 2015.

Registration is now open for the event, which will include three days of presentations and panels centered around safety of vertical lift aircraft. A nominal registration fee is required, solely to recover costs of producing the event, and breakfast and lunch area provided each day. A virtual registration is available for those unable to attend the event in person. Discounted registration rates are available now through August 8, 2022.

Organizers designated the event’s theme as “The New Era of Vertical Lift – Collaboration in Safety Culture.” Collaboration is also a key focus of the organizing groups, acknowledging that vertical aviation accidents around the world occur for many of the same reasons. Collaborating globally and locally allows the groups to focus on successful mitigation strategies.

The first day of the conference will feature presentations for the entire helicopter and VTOL community. Day two will split the event into three tracks focusing on specific safety elements for Operations, Maintenance, and Advance VTOL Operations. The final day highlights global safety perspectives, with presentations on safety, technology, vertiports, and other topics. The complete schedule and speaker biographies are available on the conference website.

The October government-industry conference will feature dozens of presentations and seminars with the goal of reducing the national and international vertical aviation accident rate. The event will offer Inspection Authorization refresher course credits and FAA AMT and WINGS credits. While helicopter-focused programming will continue to be emphasized, this conference represents an expansion of the previous forums to include vertical take-off and landing vehicles.

Conference admission is open to the entire vertical aviation community and anyone who is interested in learning more about vertical aviation safety. A website offering additional full details on the schedule and registration information for the conference opened June 29, 2022. Housing options are also available. The organization is also seeking sponsors for different elements of the conference, and that information is also available on the website.