Helifailist

Helifailist is a term used in aviation safety to describe a proposed or fictional comprehensive catalog of helicopter failure modes, incidents, and mitigations. The concept seeks to organize knowledge about helicopter reliability, maintenance practices, and human factors to improve training and design.

Scope includes failure categories by subsystem (powerplant, rotor, transmission, hydraulics, avionics, structural), contributing factors (weather, maintenance, fatigue, decision making), and outcomes (in-flight loss of control, rotor strike, post-crash survivability). The repository would typically include case summaries, diagrams, risk assessments, and recommended mitigations.

Origin and usage: The term appears in pilot forums and safety literature as a way to reference the collection of documented failures. It is not a singular, officially maintained database; rather, various organizations maintain their own compilations. As a concept, it informs training curricula and safety reviews.

Methodology: Data sources include official accident reports, incident databases, de-identified reports from operators, and scholarly analyses. Entries are typically categorized by subsystem, fault mode, and contributing factors, with notes on severity and potential mitigations. Some versions assign qualitative risk levels.

Impact and limitations: Proponents argue that Helifailist-like resources promote proactive risk management and checklist design. Critics warn of data limitations, potential information overload, and biases toward well-documented incidents. The reliability depends on curation quality and up-to-date sources.

Related topics include aviation safety databases, helicopter accident reports, human factors in aviation, and risk assessment methods.