HeliOffshore releases annual offshore aviation industry safety report for 2021

HeliOffshore has today (14 June 2022) published its fourth annual Industry Safety Performance Report with figures for 2021.

The report reveals there has been a continued decline in the overall number of accidents in offshore aviation since 2015. Furthermore, there were no lives lost in offshore aviation accidents in 2021.

The rate of accidents has also continued to fall over the past five years, with the fatal accident rate decreasing by more than a third over the past five-year period.

The three main causes of overall accidents in offshore aviation continue to be: controlled flight into terrain, loss of control, and system component failure. These factors were also the main causes of nearly three-quarters of fatal accidents between 2013 and 2021. It’s for this reason HeliOffshore remains focused on these three key areas in its strategy and safety performance model.

Dr Matthew Greaves, author of the report and HeliOffshore’s Safety Intelligence Programme Director, commented: “It is extremely encouraging to see the continued positive trend of a fall in the rate of fatal accidents over the past five years. 

“However, we must avoid becoming complacent as there is still significant work to do. Accidents continue to take place that could have been fatal. In collaboration with the industry, we’ll continue to focus on the top safety priorities that this report identifies in our work over the year ahead.”

Thanks to the collaboration of OEMs and operators, global offshore aviation industry data is gathered and analysed through HeliOffshore’s Safety Intelligence Programme.

HeliOffshore’s data-driven approach and annual reporting enables the offshore aviation industry to check that safety initiatives are delivering against the industry’s safety objectives.

Dr Matthew Greaves added: “The commitment of our members to being part of an open, responsive and aligned industry enables us to analyse robust industry data and share our findings, so we can collectively focus our efforts on addressing and reducing the key frontline safety risks in offshore aviation.”

The full report is available at https://www.helioffshore-industry-report.org where the information can be easily accessed and used to improve frontline practice.

We look forward to hearing about what action you and your organisation have taken as a result of reading this report.