LUXURY AND UTILITY COMBINED - Eurocopter
LUXURY AND UTILITY COMBINED - Eurocopter
LUXURY AND UTILITY COMBINED - Eurocopter
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04<br />
EDITORIAL<br />
At <strong>Eurocopter</strong>, fl eet safety remains our top priority. I personally supported<br />
this cause last March when – along with the presidents of other major<br />
helicopter manufacturers – I signed a letter addressed to all rotarywing<br />
aircraft operators, urging them to work towards the International<br />
Helicopter Safety Team’s (IHST) goal of reducing helicopter accidents<br />
worldwide by 80% by 2016. After studying the root causes, the IHST<br />
found that there are four principal areas of focus to reduce accident rates:<br />
safety management systems, training, equipment and scheduled<br />
maintenance that adheres to manufacturers’ standards. I am inviting all of you, our customers, to actively<br />
participate in this initiative of IHST and the helicopter industry.<br />
With this in mind, we at <strong>Eurocopter</strong> are continuing to develop innovative concepts to improve the<br />
safety of your fl eet. A perfect example of this is <strong>Eurocopter</strong>’s fi rst-ever integration of data from the Wide<br />
Area Augmentation System (WAAS) air navigation network into an existing helicopter display system,<br />
which received European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) approval this past July. With this incorporation<br />
of WAAS data, landing on hospital helipads, oil rigs or sites not equipped with ground navigation aids<br />
will be more secure, especially in poor weather conditions.<br />
Not only is <strong>Eurocopter</strong> moving ahead on such initiatives, we also are working hard to continually improve<br />
the safety of our helicopters. In addition, <strong>Eurocopter</strong> is setting up training opportunities – with the focus<br />
on fl ight simulators dedicated to pilot training – as close as possible to our operators’ locations. A few have<br />
already been implemented, such as in France, Germany and the United States, and more are in the works,<br />
notably for the United Kingdom, Brazil and South East Asia. Finally, we are already collaborating with<br />
some of you on your own initiatives to improve fl eet safety.<br />
More than ever, we are on your side and committed to helping you complete your missions successfully<br />
and safely. This is <strong>Eurocopter</strong>’s number one priority.<br />
ROTOR JOURNAL - NO.87 - OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2010<br />
© Daniel Biskup<br />
Innovation and training:<br />
two must-haves for improving<br />
fl eet safety<br />
Lutz Bertling, President and CEO of <strong>Eurocopter</strong>
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