A study on a specialized flight safety management method to prevent accidents of forest fire-fighting helicopters (Focusing on accidents that occur in the process of loading water into a helicopter)
Climate change has had a significant impact on the frequency of forest fires and the extent of damage caused by such fires. Dry lands and strong winds have been the primary causes of large-scale forest fires, as proven by outbreak of forest fires throughout the world in the recent few years, including those in the US, Canada, Australia, and Russia. The most effective method for responding to forest fires that quickly spread through strong winds is aerial firefighting using an air tank or a helicopter. However, the lives of many crew members have been sacrificed as a result of helicopter crashes that have frequently occurred during forest fire-fighting in different parts of the world. Inability to prevent frequent accidents involving forest firefighting helicopters can give a negative perception to the pilots that forest firefighting is dangerous work, which can cause a sharp decrease in work efficiency and number of pilots taking part in forest firefighting. Moreover, protecting skilled pilots from accidents is also very important for preventing deforestation by forest fires and sustainable development. To prevent accidents of forest fire-fighting helicopters, the Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA) Team was established in 2019 to collect and analyze flight data of aircrafts approaching reservoirs for recommending pilots who exceed the safe range to change their flight habits, as well as providing training opportunities to change the flight habits of pilots who are repeatedly exposed to risk samples. This article explains the flight method applied during the process of approaching reservoirs, flight data analysis method, and safety management methods on preventing crashes by improving unsafe pilot habits. Key words: helicopter accident; wildfire fighting; vortex ring state; Korea Forest Service; FOQA ID: 3622024
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| Format: | Article biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
FAO ;
2022
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| Online Access: | https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/CC1262EN http://www.fao.org/3/cc1262en/cc1262en.pdf |
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