Between 2014 and 2021, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) received 161 reports for this sector. Of these:
- 12 classified as an accident
- 2 being fatal
- resulting in 3 fatalities.
Both of these accidents occurred in the non-schedule passenger operations.
The following is a breakdown of occurrences across non-schedule passenger flights and sightseeing or joy flights.
The smaller helicopter sector saw a significantly lower reporting rate compared to other sectors. This is surprising for the size of the sector and the flight hours across the sectors.
| Small helicopters | Non-scheduled passenger flights () fatal | Sightseeing / Joy flights | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accidents | 11 (2) | 1 | 12 (2) |
| Serious incidents | 16 | 1 | 17 |
| Incidents | 126 | 6 | 132 |
| Total | 153 | 8 | 161 |
Source: BITRE, ATSB Occurrence Database
Please note, BITRE data is only available for this sector up to 2021. The safety performance for 2022 is not included in the rates. There were 2 additional accidents in 2022 which include:
- one in the non-scheduled passenger operations which was fatal
- one in the sightseeing operations.
Accidents per million flying hours
Small non-scheduled passenger flights including sightseeing operations had an average rate of 4.6 accidents per million flying hours (2014-2021). Large non-scheduled passenger flights have a rate of zero accidents over the same period.
| Annual average rate per million flight hours | ‘Small’ non-scheduled passenger flights including sightseeing | ‘Large’ non-scheduled passenger flights |
|---|---|---|
| Fatal accident rate | 4.6 | 0 |
| Accident rate | 27.6 | 0 |
| Serious incident rate | 39.0 | 17.0 |
| Incident rate | 303 | 2305 |
| Total hours | 435,650 | 176,155 |
Source: BITRE, ATSB Occurrence Database
Occurrence rates per million flying hours (2014-2021)
| Type | Fatal accident rate | Accident rate | Serious incident rate | Incident rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-scheduled passenger flights | 7.2 | 39.6 | 61.1 | 453 |
| Sightseeing flights | 0 | 6.3 | 6.3 | 38.1 |
Source: BITRE, ATSB Occurrence Database