The 2018 FAA International Rotorcraft Safety Conference will be held Oct. 23–25 at the Hurst Conference Center near Fort Worth, Texas, in an effort to reduce helicopter accident rates. The FAA Rotorcraft Standards Branch is hosting the free safety conference for the third time, after hosting previous safety symposiums in 2015 and ’16.

National personal resilience speaker Jack Harris will be the keynote speaker on the conference’s first day and will speak about “keeping good people good.” The conference will also feature presentations from small operators and major industry and FAA leaders. Topics include crash injury protective equipment, surviving a helicopter accident, single pilot resource management, avoiding inadvertent instrument meteorological conditions, rotor blade inspection and preventive maintenance, what goes into an airworthiness directive and flight data monitoring.

The conference’s first and third days, Oct. 23 and 25, will feature programs designed to appeal to the entire helicopter community. The conference’s second day—Oct. 24—will have separate presentations for pilots and mechanics, including pilot sessions on U.S. Helicopter Safety Team initiatives, night vision goggles and presentations from major helicopter associations. Mechanics will discuss preventative maintenance for rotor blades, flight data monitoring, safety cultures and managing maintenance operations. The complete programming schedule is available here.

The information gained at the rotorcraft safety conference could help pilots, mechanics and others prevent a catastrophic accident. To that end, helicopter operators, pilots, mechanics and industry personnel are encouraged to attend the free conference. Attendees will receive Inspection Authorization credits and FAA AMT and WINGS pilot proficiency program credits.