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The FAA has issued a special airworthiness information bulletin (SAIB) that highlights how stability augmentation and autopilot systems can significantly reduce accidents related to loss of control and unintended entry into instrument meteorological conditions. VAI strongly supports the voluntary adoption of performance-based safety-enhancing technologies where owners and operators can reasonably integrate them. For more information from the US Helicopter Safety Team about the benefits of safety-enhancing technology, click on the headline above.

This FAA airworthiness directive (AD), which takes effect Apr. 7, requires replacing the rotor-shaft assembly; modifying the rotating swashplate assembly to replace each of the three ball joint–cup assemblies with one-piece self-lubricated spherical bearings; modifying the scissor hinges and swashplate trunnions on the main rotor, as applicable; and applying an anticorrosion agent, if applicable. The AD also prohibits installing a main-rotor hub assembly or rotor-shaft assembly on any helicopter without first meeting certain requirements.

Founded in 1996 by a group of leading helicopter tour operators, the Tour Operators Program of Safety (TOPS) initiative follows a simple premise: Safety is not a competitive advantage—it is a shared responsibility.

(Syracuse.com) – Police used a drone and a helicopter crew to locate and rescue two people and a missing dog stuck in a cold marsh Feb. 27 in Clay, New York.

(GlobeNewswire) – A new forecast from Research and Markets projects that the global helicopter-based transportation market will expand from a projected 2026 value of $6.56 billion to $7.68 billion by 2030.

SMFL Helicopters has launched operations after Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Co. (SMFL) acquired and merged LCI with Macquarie Rotorcraft.

This FAA airworthiness directive (AD), which takes effect Apr. 7, requires a one-time inspection of the position of the bonding braid on the socket of the pilot cyclic stick and, depending on the results, correcting the positioning of the bonding braid and installing a binding clamp.

(Vertical magazine) – The Ontario, Canada–based air ambulance provider launched an IFR/night rating reimbursement program in January 2025. So far, four pilots have completed training through the program, with others currently in progress.

(AirMed&Rescue) – Charley Shimanski, president of the Air Rescue Commission at the International Commission for Alpine Rescue, shares 19 essential considerations for high-altitude helicopter operations from a paper published in the High Altitude Medicine & Biology Journal.

(Divernet) – Officials from the Hawaii Board of Land & Natural Resources fined Trident Adventures $10,000 for conducting unauthorized commercial drops of divers from a helicopter into Shark’s Cove in the Pupukea Marine Life Conservation District during June 2025.