jul-aug2012

Flight Safety Australia
Issue 87 July–August 2012
21
injuries. Another helicopter came
down on its left side after a 100-foot
fall—without serious head injuries to
the helmeted survivors.
In 2009, an agricultural helicopter pilot
wearing a helmet and a four-point harness
survived a wirestrike near Albury, NSW that
destroyed the Bell 206 he was flying.
Some types of aviation obviously carry
elevated risk. Agricultural flying, aerial
firefighting, powerline work and mustering
come to mind. But for helicopters in
particular, activities often thought of
as fairly safe are prominent in accident
statistics. When the Australian Transport
Safety Bureau looked at light utility
helicopter safety, it identified private flying
and flying training as the second and third
largest categories of accident flights after
aerial work, (which included mustering).
For Australia’s most popular helicopter, the
Robinson R22, private flying and training
each produced about six times as many
accidents as aerial agriculture. In short:
elevated risk does not always announce
itself by being high-G and low-level.
By keeping you conscious and allowing
you to escape from the cockpit of a
crashed aircraft, a helmet can save you
from burning to death or drowning—there
are many examples of this—and many
other cases where incapacitated aircrew
died who might have lived had they been
wearing helmets.
A less well-known safety benefit of helmets
comes from how their visors protect the
face. The US Army found that in 25 per
cent of accidents to helmeted aircrew, it
was the visor that prevented or reduced
injury. In 22.2 per cent of accidents the
visor prevented injury. The study found:
‘crewmembers who wore their visors
down sustained minor injuries—caused by
the visor in many cases (often due to the
visor edge striking the cheek)—but there
were fewer fatalities among them.’
The ATSB noted in its report into a 2006
helicopter crash, where both the pilot and
feral animal shooter were wearing helmets,
and survived, that the pilot might have
been protected from facial and eye injuries
had his visor been down.
While not demanding it, CASA encourages
helmet wearing. For example, advisory
circular 21-47(0) on flight-test safety, of
April 2012, says: ‘For the early flights of
an experimental or major developmental
program, and for any flight in which there
is a chance that the aircraft may be subject
to a loss of control near or on the ground,
or may have to be abandoned while
airborne, a protective helmet should also
be worn.’
Some sectors of aviation have
unreservedly adopted helmets.
‘The Aerial Agriculture Association
of Australia strongly recommends all
application pilots wear helmets during
operations,’ says AAAA chief executive
Phil Hurst. ‘We have been teaching this
for years, it is included in the Aerial
Application Pilots Manual—and has almost
universal adoption within the industry.’
In Hurst’s opinion, the relevance of helmets
to the wider GA community depends on
the risk and the nature of the operation.
‘As a helmet or protective clothing is
classified as “PPE” —personal protection
equipment—it is on the bottom rung of
risk management. The highest order of risk
management is of course not to be there—
to eliminate the risk,’ he says.
‘While this is not possible in many ops—
and therefore the need for other mitigation
measures—it is certainly the case for
any GA pilot who might be tempted to
undertake low flying “for the fun of it”.
They simply shouldn’t put themselves in
the hostile, low-level environment.’
‘Of course, helmets and other PPE are just
another means of trying to get the odds on
your side for a favourable (safe) outcome
to every flight.’
Like most things in aviation, flight
helmets are not cheap. They can cost
up to $2000, although a small financial
mercy is that they can be inspected and
refurbished for further use, unlike, for
example, motorcycle helmets, which can
be equally expensive but are recommended
for destruction after a certain lifespan.
Sport aviation helmets are available for
hang glider, trike and three-axis ultralight
occupants.
Nobody plans to have an accident: nobody
wants to have an accident. All sensible
pilots take precautions with their aircraft
and how they fly it, so they do not have an
accident, or minimise its effects. Wearing
a helmet is one such precaution that has
been shown to work. The decision to wear
one is yours. On your head be it.
Further reading
1991 US Army helicopter crew helmets study
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1890485
Helmet use: What message are we sending to
patients? Ted Ryan, Beth L. Studebaker, Gary
D. Brennan Air Medical Journal Volume 13,
Issue 9, September 1994, Pages 346–348
Helicopter Safety Vol. 24 No. 6 November-
December 1998 Flight Safety Foundation,
Alexandria, VA, USA
ATSB investigation reports: 2006—
200606510, and 2009 B206 Albury wirestrike