Helicopter Accident Points to Operator Culture Issues
The crash of an Alaska Department
of Public Safety helicopter on March 30 last year was caused by the pilot’s
decision to continue flying into deteriorating weather conditions, as well as
the operator’s “punitive culture and inadequate safety management,” the National
Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a November 6 public hearing. The
helicopter had been dispatched to retrieve a stranded snowmobiler near
Talkeetna, Alaska, when the accident claimed the lives of the pilot, another
state trooper and the snowmobiler. NTSB investigators concluded that a
contributing factor in the crash was the pilot’s “exceptionally high motivation
to complete search-and-rescue missions,” which raised his risk tolerance and
adversely affected his decision-making. The investigation also uncovered details
of a previous accident involving the same pilot. Among the board’s findings was
that the operator lacked policies and procedures for effective risk management,
such as formal weather minimums, formal training in night-vision-goggle
operations and involving a second person familiar with helicopter rescue
operations in the go/no-go decision. “Public agencies are not learning the
lessons from each other’s accidents, and the tragic result is that we have seen
far too many accidents in public helicopter operations,” commented NTSB acting
chairman Christopher Hart.
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