Restoring Practical Single Engine IFR to the Marketplace

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Attempting to pick through bad weather - becoming disoriented in diminished visibility or striking a wire or obstacle at low altitude - remains one of the major causes of fatal helicopter accidents. It is more common than engine failure, more common than mechanical failures, and more common than systems failures. While some feel the answer involves more tools to enable low-flying helicopters to avoid terrain and obstacles, a better solution is to keep helicopters safely away from terrain and obstacles using instrument flight rules (IFR) when weather conditions demand. For single engine helicopters, which form the largest population of helicopters, this means finding cost effective ways to provide them with safe and practical IFR capability. IFR capability is commonplace in airplanes, even among entry-level and training aircraft. An IFR rating is typically the first rating sought after an airplane pilot receives their license. For helicopters, there is currently not a parallel culture of shifting to the safety of IFR operations when weather demands. The reasons are complex, but a significant factor affecting this culture today is that the entryl evel IFR rotorcraft is generally a twin-turbine-engine helicopter. By the time a helicopter pilot gets to this level of machine, he or she is typically well versed in the "alternate" methods of weather avoidance. Unfortunately, even IFR rated helicopter pilots tend to default to a practice of attempting to fly below the weather using visual flight rules (VFR). Increasing the availability of IFR-capable helicopters by restoring practical, low-cost IFR solutions to single engine rotorcraft is the first step in a process intended to change the rotorcraft safety culture. This paper describes a 5-year effort by associations, industry, and regulators to remove the obstacles to certifying low-cost IFR helicopters. By mid-year 2019, two single-engine helicopters were certified for IFR operations, ending an absence of more than 20 years from the marketplace, but these were newly-manufactured aircraft. The remaining challenge is to apply what has been done in order to allow cost-effective retrofits of IFR capability to the existing fleet of VFR helicopters. The hope is that, with the trail now blazed, others will follow, and we will see even more single-engine rotorcraft with IFR capability and fewer weather-related accidents.