Why do helicopters crash so much more often than other aircraft?
In: Physics
The people saying helicopters are less stable or inherently less safe than fixed-wing aircraft (planes) are mistaken. Autorotation (described by /u/jacklychi) allows helicopters to make controlled landings without an engine very easily, and helicopters get just as many safety inspections as any other aircraft, more or less, *if* they are for commercial transportation.
The biggest difference is that helicopters are used primarily for low, short flights between nearby destinations. Autorotation requires a certain height above the ground in order to work – that means if a helicopter loses and engine it’s safer if you’re *higher* up. Except that most helicopters are flying lower to the ground. That makes autorotation more difficult. And since helicopters are usually flying over populated areas it’s less likely that a helicopter will be able to find a clear, open place to land. Although autorotation allows a helicopter to land safely if it has a place to land, they still don’t have glide slopes – you’re not going to get very far, only straight down. A plane will be flying probably much higher and although a landing without an engine is more dangerous, they will at least have more energy and lift to travel horizontally to a safer, emptier place.
The tendency for helicopters to be used for lower, shorter flights also puts them closer to obstacles like power lines, buildings, birds, and even tall trees. In the case of the Kobe crash, it crashed into a hillside. Visibility was poor. Although the cause has not yet been determined, it *could* be as simple as the pilot misread the instruments and didn’t see the hillside until it was too late to avoid it. Compare that to most passenger planes which would be flying so high that not being able to see the terrain isn’t an issue, because there isn’t any. I have zero other information, I’m not saying that was the cause, I am only suggesting that it *could* be a cause which is generally not true of most commercial passenger flights.
The other problem is that helicopters are more likely to be privately owned and operated, at least compared to big passenger planes. Those are regulated *very* strictly. Although *any* flights are very regulated, a small for-hire helicopter service may not have the same stringency applied to it as other modes of air travel. This is also true of small planes, too, and one of the reasons they tend to crash more often than big passenger planes.
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