Pilot talks about air accident investigation protocol
Six people died after the collision between two helicopters at Recreio dos Bandeirantes this Sunday (14), in Rio de Janeiro. Forensic work began at the scene, and pilot Rafael Santos gave an interview to CNN to analyze the possible causes of the accident and detail the investigation protocols involved in this type of incident.
The aircraft involved in the accident were an Aerocopter AS-350B2, from 2012, and a Bell 206B, from 1999. According to Rafael Santos, the year of manufacture is not the determining factor in evaluating the quality of a helicopter.
"We don't measure planes and helicopters by the time they were made, but by the way they were arranged", he stated. For the pilot, both models are high standard equipment, and, in a preliminary analysis, the models themselves would not have contributed to the accident.
Rafael Santos also contextualized aviation as a mitigated risk activity. According to him, every time an accident occurs, regardless of the model or location, some element of the protection and risk mitigation system has failed.
"Every time an accident happens, something in this risk mitigation protection system has failed," he explained.
Private flights and protocol differences
Both aircraft were registered as helicopters for private use and were not authorized to carry out commercial flights. Rafael Santos explained that, when a helicopter is used to transport third parties - such as in air taxi services - it undergoes a different certification, with more rigorous training, control and maintenance procedures.
In the case of private flights, this additional level of requirement does not apply in the same way. "When we allocate this to a third party, we go through different certification and different procedures", he detailed.
Regarding communication between aircraft, the pilot explained that, in flights carried out visually, the separation between aircraft is coordinated by the pilots themselves, who use a shared radio frequency.
"Probably, the helicopters were coordinating with each other on a segregated frequency for this purpose," said Rafael Santos, adding that all pilots operating in the region have access to this frequency to monitor each other's positions.
Investigation: CENIPA and the Civil Police have distinct roles
Rafael Santos also clarified the differences between the investigations conducted by CENIPA (Aeronautical Accident Investigation and Prevention Center) - a body linked to the Brazilian Air Force - and the Civil Police. According to him, CENIPA does not carry out police investigations or seek to identify culprits.
"She understands causes and looks for factors so that accidents like this do not occur in the future", he explained. The Civil Police are responsible for the police investigation, as there were victims. "CENIPA's responsibility is not to investigate the accident by finding culprits. It looks for the why, the what, not the who", he summarized.
The pilot also highlighted that CENIPA only begins its work after the Fire Department clears the accident site, and that the agency's investigation is usually long and thorough.
"This investigation normally takes two to five years in Brazil," he said, citing as an example a previous accident whose final report has not yet been released, leaving dozens of families without answers.
Rafael Santos called for greater speed and transparency on the part of CENIPA, comparing the Brazilian model to that of the United States, where open public hearings are held a few days after an accident.
Black boxes and hypotheses about the accident
Regarding the possibility of aircraft being equipped with black boxes, Rafael Santos explained that helicopters can be equipped with flight and voice recorders, but that this equipment is not mandatory for aircraft that do not operate as air taxis.
For the pilot, the in-flight collision may have been preceded by multiple system failures. "In aviation, for every nine incidents, the tenth is an accident", he said, listing inadequate separation between aircraft, non-standard communication or even an irregular flight as possible.
He stressed, however, that all these are preliminary speculations, and that the appropriate investigation will be up to the competent authorities.
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Source: CNN