Pilot, aircraft changes needed for safer low-visibility flying | Aviation International News

Pilot, aircraft changes needed for safer low-visibility flying

The UK civil aviation authority (CAA) is recommending prevention and mitigation action to reduce the number of helicopter accidents in poor visibility.

By Thierry Dubois • Writer

April 30, 2009

The UK civil aviation authority (CAA) is recommending prevention and mitigation action to reduce the number of helicopter accidents in poor visibility. Proposed improvements include pilot guidance on whether to fly and better handling qualities. Together, controlled flight into terrain (CFIT), spatial disorientation and loss of control form the largest single cause of small-helicopter fatal accidents in the UK.

The UK has experienced a continuing incidence of serious civil helicopter accidents attributed to loss of control in degraded visual conditions over the last 30 years, according to CAA research project manager David Howson. Crash investigators have found many such accidents are associated with VFR flight “with the surface in sight.”
Current rules define this as “sufficient surface [...] to enable the flight crew to maintain the aircraft in a desired attitude without reference to any instrument.”

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