IHST to Meet

The International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST) will hold its Third International Helicopter Safety Symposium, September 29 - October 1, 2009, at the
Hotel Hilton Montréal Bonaventure, Montréal, Québec, Canada

The event comes as long-term worldwide helicopter accident data trends have failed to show significant improvement in the last 20 years.

At the first International Helicopter Safety Symposium (IHSS) in Montréal in 2005, nearly 300 attendees agreed to launch an aggressive effort to reduce the worldwide helicopter accident rate by 80 percent by 2016.

In early 2006, industry and government leaders created the International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST), modeled after the successful Civil Aviation Safety Team (CAST), to analyze the causes of helicopter accidents and propose mitigation strategies to achieve the 80 percent goal.

The processes used by IHST, similar to those of CAST, engaged a team of industry experts to perform accident analyses. IHST subsequently launched a parallel effort to prioritize and recommend appropriate interventions, including the creation of a "safety culture," improved training, and, in some cases, the introduction of new technologies, to achieve the IHST goal.

At the IHSS 2009 meeting, the Joint Helicopter Safety Analysis Team (JHSAT) will announce its findings and recommendations based on a detailed study of two years of NTSB accident reports.

Attendees will have the opportunity to discuss these JHSIT recommendations and refine and finalize a global helicopter safety roadmap, including the following:

∑ Determining safety actions that make business sense for small and medium helicopter operators

∑ Developing safety actions covering a wide range of missions and operating environments

∑ Developing a plan to better integrate the world helicopter community in participating in the IHST safety initiative to achieve the 80 percent accident reduction goal.

To learn more about IHSS 2009 and registration opportunities, please visit the IHST website - www.ihst.org