VAI Board Member and USHST Industry Chairman Chris Baur (right) and APHIJ Chairman Hiro Onishi meet in Tokyo, Japan, Aug. 20, 2025, to discuss collaborative pathways to improve helicopter safety and expand IFR infrastructure. VAI, USHST, APHIJ collaborate to improve helicopter safety VAI Board Member Chris Baur, CEO of Hughes Aerospace Corp. and industry chairman of the US Helicopter Safety Team (USHST), met Aug. 20 in Tokyo, Japan, with Hiro Onishi, chairman of the Association for Promotion of Helicopter Industry, Japan (APHIJ) to discuss collaborative pathways to improve helicopter safety and expand IFR infrastructure. The conversation centered on COPTER IFR, performance-based navigation, and the safe integration of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) operations into busy metropolitan airspace. Both leaders identified multiple areas for joint work, including sharing knowledge about accident-prevention strategies, harmonizing training standards, and mapping opportunities to increase access to IFR procedures that enhance reliability in marginal weather. The discussion underscored a shared commitment to eliminating fatal helicopter accidents and widening equitable access to airspace and procedures for operators and first responders. Baur and Onishi agreed that continued dialogue between VAI, USHST, and APHIJ stakeholders can accelerate practical, near-term improvements while laying a foundation for next-generation vertical flight systems. “Our priority is simple: save lives. Expanding COPTER IFR and sharing proven safety practices can cut risk today while we prepare for tomorrow’s eVTOL operations,” says Baur.
