String Of Accidents Challenges Helicopter Pilots

Helicopter pilots need to take more ownership of a steadily increasing number of accidents, according to the International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST). In the seven-day period between October 10 and October 17 the industry reported four accidents that took the lives of seven people. Two accidents on the same day, October 10, claimed two lives, one in northeastern Pennsylvania and the other in central Louisiana. An October 12 night accident into a wooded area near Fredericksburg, Texas, claimed all three onboard, while five days later, another helicopter crashed and caught fire in Bucks County, Pa.