Originally Posted by
nomorehelosforme
And here once again is the chart that shows the REAL facts.The Robinson R44 led all major models with the highest fatal accident rate from 2006 to 2016.
No, those are the numbers that the LA Times
purport to be "real facts". You should not trust the US media
Unless their conclusions are the ones you want, of course
.
They did get the total number of accidents correct as they matched with the NTSB database. But the fleet hour data is suspect. Those of us in the US know what a crappy job owners and operators do with the annual FAA operations survey. Many, perhaps most, simply get thrown right in the trash. I've spoken to several people at the FAA. Nobody has been able to give me a breakdown, by aircraft model number, yearly operating hours, of the data they do have. And they do have data, but it's currently only available (to me, anyway) broken down by type of operation or industry sector, not by helicopter type or model number. Short of a formal FOIA request, I've thrown in the towel on ever getting good fleet hour data. However, I would love to be hooked up with the right person at the FAA who could supply those numbers. If anyone's got a contact there please PM me.
Nevertheless: let's assume that the data is correct. And let's further assume that the R44 is more dangerous because of its design, not because of the type of operations it experiences (low time, low currency piloting, etc.) Even if you believe all that is true, it is still near to becoming the most produced helicopter of all time, rapidly gaining on the current champion, the 206. Clearly the risk/reward trade-off in the community sides with the R44. And because of this it may be that the economics of the R44 are not only an enabler of its successes, but also its failures.
Personally I think it's a very good design that had some unfortunate teething pains. I'm lucky in that I came to the community after most of those teething pains had been mitigated. As an owner I didn't quite miss the last mandatory MRB AD, but even that worked in my favor in terms of acquisition cost, believe it or not.
Fly it. Don't fly it. Everyone needs to work out their own salvation. For many it's what they can afford, so it's going to get flown unless and until the FAA (or whoever) says it can't be.