U.S. FOREST SERVICE 

AVIATION SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

FY 2016 AVIATION SAFETY SUMMARY
1 

Table of Contents

How to Interpret Data 2 

Executive Summary 3 

Safety Management System 4 

Accomplishments 5 

Statistical Summary 7 

USFS Owned and/or Operated Statistics 12 

Contract Fixed Wing Statistics 13

Contract Airtanker Statistics 14

Contract Single Engine Airtanker Statistics 15

Contract Helicopter Statistics 16

SAFECOM Summary 17 

Mishap Summary 24

How to interpret data within this report

Note: Formulas Used: Industry Standard “Per 100,000 Hours Flown”

Accident Rate = Number of accidents divided by the number of hours flown multiplied by 100,000.

Fatal Accident Rate = Number of fatal accidents divided by the number of hours flown 

multiplied by 100,000.

Fatality Rate = Number of fatalities divided by the number of hours flown multiplied by 

100,000.

This report is available on-line at: 

http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/av_safety/fy_safety_reports/index.html
2 

Aircraft Category Definitions:

 USFS Owned and Operated (O&O) includes a total of 39 aircraft; 25 fleet aircraft (20 fixedwing, 2 airtankers and 3 helicopters) and 14 leased fixed-wing aircraft. 

 Fixed-Wing Aircraft this includes all contract fixed-wing, excluding all airtankers.

 Helicopters includes all contract helicopters, including tanked helicopters. 

 Airtankers include all contract multi-engine/jet large and very large airtankers and 

scoopers. 

 SEAT’s are Single Engine Airtankers. The USFS only has one on contract through DOI-OAS, 

however the hours are obtained from DOI-OAS for all SEAT’s that flew on USFS missions. 

Mishap Definitions: 

 Aircraft Accident: An occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which takes 

place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and the 

time all such persons have disembarked, and in which any person suffers death or serious 

injury or in which the aircraft receives substantial damage. During a jump sequence, a 

Forest Service smokejumper is considered to have safely disembarked the aircraft after 

detaching from the static line from the parachute deployment system and when the 

parachute canopy has successfully deployed. (Refer to 14 CFR NTSB 830 for definition of 

reportable accidents) 

 Aircraft Incident with Potential: An "in-flight incident" that narrowly misses being an 

accident by NTSB definition and circumstances may involve some aircraft damage, 

property damage, or minor injury to crew or passengers. Classification of Incidents with 

Potential is determined by the US Forest Service, Branch Chief, Aviation Safety 

Management Systems.

Operational Control is defined as the exercise of authority over initiating, conducting, or 

terminating a flight (14 CFR Part 1.1). This includes direct management oversight, supervision 

and accountability for a specific task, mission or assignment. 

 

 Forest Service fleet aircraft or aircraft on contract to the USFS that have a mishap while 

under operational control of another agency (ie BLM, NPS, State, etc.) are not USFS 

reportable mishaps but that of the agency with operational control.

 Cooperator aircraft (fleet and contract) under operational control of the USFS that have a 

mishap are USFS reportable mishaps and are included in these statistics. 

 Military aircraft remain under the operational control of the military even while supporting 

USFS operations. 
3 

Executive Summary

The Forest Service Aviation Risk Management program is based on the philosophy that all 

aircraft mishaps are preventable and that mishap prevention is an inherent function of 

management. 

The Forest Service had one Incident With Potential (IWP) in 2016, an upset in one of our 

leased Lead Planes on a fire in Wyoming. There were no accidents.

The USFS flew 65,071 hours in FY 2016 which is slightly below the 10-year average of 67,407 

flight hours. The primary mission of Forest Service Aviation is to support natural resource 

programs through a variety of means, including, but not limited to:

• Aerial delivery of firefighters by parachute, rappel rope, or on site landing

• Air tactical command and control

• Surveillance, reconnaissance, and intelligence gathering 

• Infrared detection & mapping

• Aerial delivery of fire retardant and water

• Passenger transport for firefighting and resource missions

• Administrative flights

• Research

• Forest rehabilitation

• Forest Health Protection (aerial surveys, application and photography)

• Law enforcement

• Aerial photography

• Emergency Medical Assistance

Approximately 300 employees at the Washington Office, Regional Offices and Forest levels 

administer the Forest Service aviation program. The national staff is located in Washington D.C. 

and at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. The vast majority of aviation 

personnel are located throughout the forests, with local forest and regional staff providing dayto-day operational oversight and program guidance. 

The Forest Service utilized approximately 615 aircraft in FY 2016. These include government 

owned and leased, but primarily contracted aircraft. 

Numerous state agencies and county municipalities operate Forest Service owned aircraft 

under the Federal Excess Personal Property (FEPP) program. These aircraft are not included in 

these statistics or mishap data. 
4 

Safety Management System 

A Safety Management System (SMS) is essentially a quality management approach to controlling risk. 

It provides the organizational framework to construct and support a sound safety culture that 

actively controls its risk exposure. With increased aviation activity and decreased resources, the SMS 

pushes the limits of current safety strategies and practices by developing and implementing a 

structured management system to control risk and meet legal responsibilities in aviation operations. 

Our goal is to develop a safety culture that achieves and maintains a zero accident rate. A highly 

successful safety culture understands that every person in the organization accepts that safety 

is a conscious and ongoing mindset as opposed to simply a box to be checked. We understand 

that safety is a dynamic non-event. Consequently, we need to maintain the capability to 

continuously seek out and eliminate latent defects within our systems and culture. By being 

proactive in this area we eliminate potential causal factors that could lead to future accidents.

There are four components comprising the Agency’s safety management system; each component is 

an essential piece of a comprehensive safety-oriented management system. 

✈ Policy is management commitment, responsibility and accountability for the program and 

the appointment of key safety personnel. Forest Service manuals are being revised using 

principle centered management for guidance of aviation operations.

✈ Risk Management identifies hazards and applies risk assessment and mitigation processes. 

✈ Assurance is the process of monitoring controls that also includes safety and compliance 

audits, aviation accident prevention, review and analysis of historical data, accident 

investigation, error analysis, and corrective action plans. 

✈ Promotion includes training for pilots, crews, managers, support personnel and end-users. 

Other communications, awards and lessons learned help to maintain safety awareness.
5 

Accomplishments in aviation safety in FY 2016 include the following:

Policy:

✈ Revised the Safety Management System (SMS) Guide, distributed and posted online

✈ Continued to participate in the FSM 5700 rewrite

✈ Provided input to several Interagency guides and handbooks

✈ Participated in the development of the HC-130H Operations Plan

✈ Participated in the development of the Sherpa Operations Plan

Risk Management:

✈ Instructed multiple risk management sessions nationally

✈ Continued to provide Safety Officer oversight to the HC-130 airtanker program

✈ Inclusion of SMS requirements into Type 3 Helicopter, Next Generation Airtanker, and Light 

Fixed-wing Contracts

✈ Conducted a Subject Matter Expert session to evaluate the Desoto Helicopter Accident 

recommendations submitted to the NTSB. A current list of recommendations were given to 

the Learning Review Board for their consideration

Assurance:

✈ Coordinated investigations for Incidents With Potential (IWP), Incidents and other Lessons 

Learned Reviews.

✈ Assisted Region 9 with at SMS review of their Aviation Program

✈ Participated in contract technical evaluation board proposals

✈ Participated in various quality assurance reviews

Safety Promotion:

✈ Published Annual Aviation Safety Report

✈ Published Annual Aviation Safety Briefing and presented at Helicopter Association 

International (HAI), several Regional Aviation and Safety meetings, Helicopter Crewmember, 

Helicopter Manager and Helibase Manager Courses

✈ Provided administration and review to all USFS and State SAFECOMs and management of 

WO, Vendor and some State SAFECOMs

✈ Published a combined total of 23 Safety Alerts, Technical Bulletins, Lessons Learned,

Accident Prevention Bulletins and Information Bulletins 

✈ Presented A-200 Aviation Mishap Reviews at HAI, several Regional Aviation and Safety 
6 

meetings, Helicopter Crewmember, Helicopter Manager and Helibase Manager Courses 

✈ Supported nine employees that received a Career Certificate in Aviation Safety Management 

Systems and the Federal Aviation Safety Officer Certificate. 

✈ Twenty-five employees applied for and received scholarship funding to take courses in 

Aviation Safety Management Systems from institutes of higher education. 

✈ USFS students completed a total of 11,655 Interagency Aviation Training (IAT) modules. 

These were completed through Classroom (2,930 modules), Webinars (249 modules) and online learning (8,476 modules)
7 

Statistical Summary 

USFS Aircraft Accident Rates 2007-2016

8.17

4.07

5.21 4.46

0 0

0

1.73

4.43

0 0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Accident Rate Trendline

FY 2016 Accident Statistics 

Aircraft Type Hours Number of 

Accidents

Accident 

Rate

Number of 

Fatalities

Fatality 

Rate

Fixed-Wing 18,238 0 0 0 0 

Helicopter 32,594 0 0 0 0 

Airtanker 5,997 0 0 0 0 

Single Engine 

Airtanker (SEAT) 558 0 0 0 0 

USFS Owned and/or 

Operated (USFS O/O) 7,684 0 0 0 0 

Total 65,071 0 0 0 0 
8 

50.1% 28.0%

9.2% 11.8% 0.9%

FY 2016 Flight Hour Percentages 

Fixed-Wing Helicopter Airtanker USFS O/O SEAT

48.2% 32.2%

6.3%

12.4% 1.0%

10-Year Average of Flight Hour Percentages 

2007-2016 

Fixed-Wing Helicopter Airtanker USFS O/O SEAT
9 

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

Average Actual

67,407 65,071

Average vs Actual Hours Flown for FY 2016

Comparison of Average vs 2016 

10 Year Average 2016 Comparison 

Hours flown 67,407 65,071 -2,336 

Number of Accidents 1.9 0 -1.9 

Number of Fatalities 1.9 0 -1.9 

Accident Rate 2.81 0 -2.81 

Fatality Rate 2.81 0 -2.81 

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

Number of Accidents Accident Rate Number of Fatalities Fatality Rate

1.9

2.81

1.9

2.81

0 0 0 0

Average vs Actual for 2016

Average Actual
10

10-Year Accident Data by Aircraft Category

Aircraft Category Fixed-Wing Helicopter Airtanker SEAT USFS O&O TOTAL

Number of Accidents 5 9 3 2 0 19

Number of Fatal Accidents 1 4 1 0 0 6

Number of fatalities 3 13 3 0 0 19

Flight Hour Statistics

Year Fixed-Wing Helicopter Airtanker SEAT USFS O&O Total

2016 18,238 32,594 5,997 558 7,684 65,071

10-Year Totals 217,008 324,715 42,198 6,586 83,560 674,067

10-Year Average 21,701 32,472 4,220 659 8,356 67,407

Accident Rates

Year # of 

Accidents

Accident 

Rate

FixedWing Helicopter Airtanker SEAT USFS 

O&O

2016 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

10-Year 

Average

1.9 2.81 2.3 2.77 7.1 30.36 0

Accident Rate = Number of accidents divided by the number of hours flown multiplied by 100,000.

Fatal Accident and Fatality Rates

Year Fatal Accidents Fatal Accident 

Rate

Number of 

Fatalities

Fatality Rate

2016 0 0 0 0

10-Year Average .6 .89 1.9 2.81

Fatal Accident Rate = Number of fatal accidents divided by the number of hours flown 

multiplied by 100,000.

Fatality Rate = Number of fatalities divided by the number of hours flown multiplied by 

100,000.
11

Forest Service Aircraft Accident Statistics in 5-Year Increments

The total number of accidents in 5-year increments shows a steady decline, until the 2001-2005 

period. The total number of fatalities in 5-year increments shows a major decline from the 60’s 

to the mid 70’s. There was a spike in the early 2000’s, however; the last 5 years shows a 

dramatic decrease in the number of both accidents and fatalities. 

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

67

85

60

45

34 32

26

17

28

19

4

38

Total Number of Accidents for all aircraft

(5-Year Increments) 

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40 35

30

40

19

15

11

19

8

15

23

2

20

Total Number of Fatalities for all aircraft

(5-Year Increments)
12

USFS Owned and/or Operated (O&O) Aircraft Statistics 

This includes the 25 Forest Service owned fleet aircraft (20 fixed-wing, 3 helicopter and 2

airtankers) and 14 leased Forest Service operated aerial supervision aircraft. The Forest Service 

owned aircraft accounted for 4,220 flight hours and the 14 leased aerial supervision aircraft 

flew 3,464 hours in FY 2016. This was 11.8% of the total flight hours, which is below the average 

of 12.4%. There have not been any accidents in the past 12 years and no fatal accidents for 21 

years in USFS O/O aircraft. 

Fiscal Year Hours 

Flown

# of 

Accidents

Accident 

Rate

Fatal 

Accidents

Fatal 

Accident 

Rate

Fatalities Fatality 

Rate

2016 7,684 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00

10-Year Total 83,560 0 0 0

10-Year 

Average 8,356 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

USFS O/O Hours Flown

Hours Flown Trendline
13

Fixed-Wing Aircraft Statistics

This includes all contract fixed-wing aircraft excluding all airtankers. These aircraft accounted 

for 28% of the total hours flown; the 10-year average is 32.2%. There were 18,238 hours flown, 

which is slightly below the 10-year average of 21,701. Five of the past 6 years have been 

accident free. 

Fiscal Year Hours 

Flown

# of 

Accidents

Accident 

Rate

Fatal 

Accidents

Fatal 

Accident 

Rate

Fatalities Fatality 

Rate

2016 18,238 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00

10-Year Total 217,008 5 1 3

10-Year Average 21,701 0.5 2.3 0.1 0.46 0.3 1.38

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

Fixed-Wing Hours Flown

Hours Flown Trendline

Fixed-Wing Accident Rates

3.37

4.23

0

3.47

0 0 0 0

2.57

0

-0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

accident rate

Accident Rate Trendline
14

Airtanker Statistics

This includes all contract multi-engine/jet large and very large airtankers and scoopers. These 

accounted for 9.2% of the total hours flown; well above the 10-year average of 6.3%. We have 

seen a significant decrease in airtanker accidents and fatalities since the 1960’s, however; there 

have still been 3 accidents with 3 fatalities in the last 10 years. 

Fiscal Year Hours 

Flown

# of 

Accidents

Accident 

Rate

Fatal 

Accidents

Fatal 

Accident 

Rate

Fatalities Fatality 

Rate

2016 5,997 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00

10-Year Total 42,198 3 1 3

10-Year 

Average 4,220 0.3 7.1 0.1 2.36 0.3 7.1

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

Airtanker Hours Flown

Airtanker Trendline

Airtanker Accident Rates

0 0

27.14

35.05

0 0 0

29.36

0 0 0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

accident rate

Airtankers Trendline
15

Single Engine Airtanker Statistics

This includes all contract Single Engine Airtankers (SEAT). These only accounted for 0.9% of the 

flight hours; which is below the average of 1%. There has not been a SEAT accident for 9 years, 

in 2007 there were 2 accidents. There has never been a fatal SEAT accident under USFS 

operational control.

Fiscal Year Hours 

Flown

# of 

Accidents

Accident 

Rate

Fatal 

Accidents

Fatal 

Accident 

Rate

Fatalities Fatality 

Rate

2016 558 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00

10-Year Total 6,586 2 0 0

10-Year 

Average 659 0.2 30.36 0 0.00 0 0.00

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

SEAT Hours Flown

SEAT Trendline SEAT

SEAT Accident Rates

318.47

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

accident rate

SEAT Linear (SEAT)
16

Helicopter Statistics

This includes all contract helicopters. These accounted for 50.1% of the flight hours, which is 

above the 10-year average of 48.2%. There were no accidents this year. Since 2010 (7 years) 

there has only been one helicopter accident, sadly with two fatalities. Between 1961 and 2009 

(48 years) there were only two years there wasn’t a helicopter accident, 1983 and 1995, there 

were 226 helicopter accidents, an average of 4.7 a year and 73 fatalities, an average of 1.5 per 

year. 

Fiscal Year Hours 

Flown

# of 

Accidents

Accident 

Rate

Fatal 

Accidents

Fatal 

Accident 

Rate

Fatalities Fatality 

Rate

2016 32,594 0 0 0 0 0 0

10-Year Total 324,715 9 4 13

10-Year 

Average 32,472 0.9 2.77 0.4 1.23 1.3 4 

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

40000

45000

Helicopter Hours Flown 

Hours Flown Trendline

9.62

5.63

7.56

0 0 0 0 0

3.1

0

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

accident rate

Helicopter Accident Rates

Accident Rate Trendline
17

USFS SAFECOM Summary

The SAFECOM system satisfies Federal Aviation Regulation requirements for incident reporting, 

but more importantly, it provides management and front line supervisors with near real time 

accident prevention information. Armed with data on emerging safety and effectiveness 

challenges, management can take appropriate actions before a mishap occurs. 

The following charts trend the Forest Service SAFECOM data submitted to the Interagency 

SAFECOM database online at https://www.safecom.gov/. In FY 2016 there were 508 Forest 

Service SAFECOMs submitted, which is very close to the 10-year average of 503. 

USFS O&O aircraft are not separated in the SAFECOM data (except in the table below), they are 

reported under the actual type of aircraft; fixed-wing, airtanker or helicopter.

There were a total of 1,016 SAFECOMs (508 Forest Service, 424 DOI, 81 State and 3 

Other/Unknown/Military/Vendor) submitted to the Interagency SAFECOM database in FY 2016. 

The 10 most reported USFS SAFECOMs in FY2016 were: Maintenance - Engine (48), Incident - 

Precautionary Landing (45), Mishap Prevention – Kudos (41), Hazard Communications (40),

Airspace – Intrusion (35), Maintenance - Electrical (22), Management – Internal (19), Incident – 

Dropped Load (18), Maintenance - Fuel (17), and Incident – Dragged Loads (16).

10-Year SAFECOM Data

Year Number of SAFECOM’s

2016 508

10-Year Total 5,025

10-Year Average 503

2016 SAFECOM’s by Aircraft Type

 Aircraft Type Number

 Fixed Wing 107

 Helicopter 279

 Airtanker 52

 N/A 7

 SEAT 11

 UAS 19

 USFS Owned/Operated 33

 Total 508
18

USFS SAFECOM’s by Category 

The numbers of SAFECOMs by category will be more than the total number of SAFECOMs 

reported as each SAFECOM may have more than one category assigned to it. For example 

several Incident and Hazard SAFECOMs also have Maintenance SAFECOMs associated with 

them. 

0%

11%

23%

22% 6%

35%

3%

2016 Percent of SAFECOMs by Category

Accident Airspace Hazard

Mishap Prevention Incident Maintenance

Management

10-Year Average Percent of SAFECOMs by Category

0%

7%

25%

4%

19%

44%

1%
19

USFS Airspace SAFECOM’s by sub-category 

There were a total of 72 Airspace SAFECOM’s reported in 2016, above the average of 45. There 

were four near mid-air events which is well above the average 2.4 and one of them was with a 

UAS. There were 35 intrusions in which 5 involved UAS.

dr

2016 Percent of Airspace SAFECOM’s

32%

5%

24%

10%

9%

17% 3%

Conflict Congestion Intrusion Near Mid-Air

Other Procedures Route Deviation

10-Year Average Percent of Airspace SAFECOM’s

26%

10%

38%

5%

5%

14%

2%
20

USFS Hazard SAFECOM’s by sub-category

There were a total of 140 Hazard SAFECOM’s reported. Below are charts indicating the top 5 

Hazard SAFECOM’s reported and the number of Hazard SAFECOM’s for the past 10 years. The 

“Top 5”are consistent with previous years with the exception of “Weather”, which was either 

preflight action or instructions. 

2016 Top 5 Hazards reported

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Communications Pilot Action Mission Equipment Weather Policy Deviation

40

15 14 14 12

Total number of Hazards reported by year

0

50

100

150

200

250

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

193

139

120 115 126

203

189

148 154

140
21

USFS Incident SAFECOMs by sub-category 

There were a total of 139 Incident SAFECOM’s reported. Below are the top 5 Incident 

SAFECOMs reported and the total number of Incident SAFECOMs reported for the last 10-years. 

These are consistent with previous years as the top 5. Last year was the exception where 

dragged loads were not in the top 5. 

2016 Top 5 Incidents reported

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Aircraft Damage Mission Equipment Dragged Load Dropped Load Precautionary

Landing

11

13

16

18

45

Total number of Incidents reported by year

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

156

127

74

104

124

165

143

133

118

139
22

USFS Maintenance SAFECOM’s by sub-category 

There were a total of 222 maintenance SAFECOMs reported. Below are the top 8 Maintenance 

SAFECOMs reported and the total number of maintenance SAFECOMs reported for the last 10-

years. Maintenance SAFECOMS accounted for 35% of all the USFS SAFECOM reports. Engine 

maintenance discrepancies continue to be the most reported; there were a total of 48, of which 

5 were either an engine failure or required an engine shutdown. 

2016 Top 8 Maintenance deficiencies reported

 

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Engine Electrical Fuel Hydraulic Chip Light Caution Light Mission

Equipment

Landing Gear

48

22

17 15 15

11 11

8

Total number of Maintenance deficiencies reported by year

360

334

239

209

297

332

223 216

191

222

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
23

USFS Mishap Prevention SAFECOM’s

Mishap Prevention is a category to recognize the good things folks are doing in aviation. Most 

Airwards come from the SAFECOM system under this category. 

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

7

13

7

12

29

41

50

36

34

41

USFS Management SAFECOM’s by sub-category 

Below are the SAFECOM reports classified as Management, sub-categorized by internal and 

external. 

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

5

3 2 3

2

1

4

2

5

2

11

8

6

9

16

10

15

19

External Internal
24

Mishap Summary

Fortunately the Forest Service had no accidents and only one Incident With Potential (IWP) in 

2016. The table below shows the basic information. For additional information review the A200 Mishap Review on the Interagency Aviation Training website at www.iat.gov 

Date Region/Forest Aircraft Type Incident Description

8/3/16 R-2/4 Wyoming State King Air 90 Aircraft Upset