Helicopter Safety Improvements Within Reality

Helicopters in this day and age, is taken to be a technology that is not intended to have crashes and accidents at levels of regularity. The frequency of reported helicopter crashes in recent months does not befit what we are accustomed to having as the conception of helicopters.

One out of three cars crashing every 3 minutes in ordinary weather, would be an absurdity. If every time a spaceship was sent to outerspace, there was a mishap, it would be a conflict of interest in establishing the technology.

It is known that building a helicopter can be expansive. Safety features sacrificed for cost of construction minimization, is up for question. How much is really being saved, when lives are being lost at the rate they have been lately? Markedly of reference is the recent crash this week in an area about 150 miles west of Denver, Colorado.

Notions of sequences of causes and events, as it stands now, does not have to be, in terms of improvements in helicopter safety that can be made for the better.

There are a few basic technologies that are already in existence, that if applied to helicopters, might have an effect to increase the safety of passengers of helicopters and the air vehicle itself.

One unfortunate notion that might commonly be held currently, is that if and when a helicopter crashes, the results are disastrous; what was up in the sky came down, and the force of the crash caused bodily damage, almost always assumed to be fatal, with rare exceptions of a miracle. This picture in held in mind, does not have to be, and the sequence of events of flight crash and fatality, does not have to be reality.

Looking at a photo of the crash that occurred outside Denver on Monday, the helicopter was still in many ways intact.

Visiting, what if, certain technologies had existed, now presented is a summary of 3 technologies already in use, toward study for application to helicopters:

1- Thermal protection pods
These are the same pods that are used by firemen that contend with high temperature forest and wildfires. When it looks like the fire has become overwhelming, they can inflate the emergency pods, protecting them from thermal injuries.

2- Air bags
Many cars now have air bags. The same or similar concept applied to helicopters, a larger airbag, or sets of them, that accomplish the safety objective, placed in helicopters, might reduce injury caused by sudden impact. With something that resembles a waterbed, in situations where helicopters crash resulting in impact and jolting effects of the body, if the passengers were cushioned, there could possibly be a decrease in the rate of injury.

3- Sprinkler systems
Trinkling water like sprinkler systems in old office buildings, might not be sufficient in a helicopter fire. The idea of having a system that forcefully smothers flames whether water or some other mechanism, that is activated when needed, could help minimize or prevent thermal injuries.

Combinations of these, and further development of a vast set of technologies, is as innate in importance as the vehicle themselves.