Group seeks to standardize and improve HFDM practices across
industry.
A new organization has formed founded on a desire to increase
helicopter safety by promoting best practice and cooperation in the
design, support and operation of Helicopter Flight Data Monitoring
(HFDM).
The Global Helicopter Flight Data Monitoring (HFDM)Steering
Group was formed following the CHC (Canada Helicopter
Corporation) Safety & Quality Summit held in Vancouver,
Canada at the end of March. Bringing together more than 70 people
representing 48 organizations from across the globe in all aspects
of the industry, the Steering Group seeks to make HFDM as
accessible as possible to all operators both large and small, by
sharing information with the intent of making HFDM easy for
operators to implement.
The wide adoption of HFDM has been recognized as a key
initiative by the International Helicopter Safety Team, formed in
2005 with a vision of reducing the rate of civil helicopter
accidents by 80% within 10 years. The Global HFDM Steering Group
will publish information on its website, which is expected to be
ready in the near future, and it will also be linked to the IHST
website, which will host information in the interim.
The Global HFDM Steering Group is co-chaired by Captain Mike
Pilgrim, FDM Advisor for CHC Helicopter's European Operations and
Joseph Syslo, Senior Manager, Aviation Safety for American
Eurocopter. "My number one goal for this group is to promote what I
call 'joined-up thinking'," said Pilgrim, regarding HFDM. "By
working together to make HFDM simpler and more uniform across the
industry, we'll see much greater adoption of the technology and a
marked improvement in flight safety. The helicopter community has
recognized that HFDM is the future; now we have to work to ensure
that there's every reason to use it." Pilgrim, long a proponent of
HFDM, organized an HFDM Day to follow last year's CHC Safety &
Quality Summit in order to help open industry-wide communications
between the original equipment manufacturers, operators, equipment
suppliers and other industry players. Based on the positive
response, a further workshop was organized at this year's Safety
& Quality Summit in Vancouver which resulted in the formation
of the Community's 13 member Steering Group, and working groups on
Technical, Operational and Communications issues.
Many key players of the International Helicopter Safety Team
from Europe and the US are actively involved with the Global HFDM
initiative, ensuring close cooperation with wider safety
implementation efforts internationally. The goals of the
organization, as agreed at this first meeting of the steering
group, were:
Coordinate user requirements for HFDM systems and support and
advise aircraft and equipment manufacturers in meeting those
requirements.
Provide a source of expertise, information and advice for users
wishing to adopt HFDM.
Develop and communicate industry best practice on HFDM matters.
“The organized global approach to HDFM by industry leaders
is an exciting initiative, and is the right step at the right
time,” said Syslo about the Global HFDM Steering Group
“Mike Pilgrim’s idea of engaging all segments of the
HFDM community to not only develop guidelines and best practices,
but to communicate the results back to the end users is key to our
success.” The next gathering of the Global HFDM Community
will be held alongside the International Helicopter Safety
Symposium and Helitech show in Estoril, Portugal during the first
week of October, 2010.