Legislation recently introduced in the U.S. House seeks to require that all new helicopters be built with crash-resistant fuel systems, in an effort to prevent fatal crashes like the one in in Frisco.
U.S. Reps. Jared Polis, D-Boulder, and Ed Perlmutter, D-Arvada, are sponsoring the Helicopter Fuel System Safety Act, which would also require the Federal Aviation Administration to expedite the certification of retrofit kits to shore up fuel systems on older helicopters.
“We have known for decades how to make helicopter fuel systems safer,” Perlmutter said in a written statement, “yet we continue to allow new helicopters to be manufactured without crash resistant fuel systems.”
The July 3, 2015, crash in which pilot Patrick Mahany turned off a switch, thereby cutting hydraulic pressure to the tail rotor hydraulic circuit, according to the National Transportation Board. The helicopter made it into the air for about 30 seconds before spinning out of control and crashing into a parking lot and bursting into flames.
, but that because the helicopter — an Airbus AS350 — wasn’t equipped with a crash-resistant fuel system, the made it lethal.
Most choppers certified after 1994 were required to have fuel system protections, but because of a loophole, the accident helicopter was not, the NTSB said. Perlmutter says the new legislation “finally closes the loophole.”
Paramedic and flight nurse David Repsher and flight nurse Matthew Bowe were critically hurt in the crash. The the helicopter’s operator, Air Methods Corporation; the manufacturer, Airbus Helicopters S.A.S; and the distributor, Airbus Helicopters.
The bill was introduced June 29.
“The technology for safer helicopters already exists, and is ready to equip Flight for Life and other civilian helicopters,” Polis said in a written statement. “It is past time we use it, and prevent further loss of life.”
According to the NTSB, just with designs predating that year have been built with crash resistant fuel systems. In their news release, the congressman say there have been at least 173 post-helicopter-crash fires resulting in 78 deaths due to fires since crash-resistant fuel tank rules were enacted.