The Helicopter Safety Questions Travel Advisors Should Be Asking
Following the fatal Kenya crash involving &Beyond guests, a closer look at the variables that shape helicopter safety—and the questions advisors should ask before booking.
Photo: Walter Gaspar / Unsplash
On August 19, a helicopter carrying guests of luxury travel company &Beyond crashed near Mount Ololokwe in Kenya, killing all seven people aboard. The single-engine Eurocopter EC130 B4 was operated by Lady Lori Helicopters on a charter flight, according to reports from Reuters and the Associated Press. Investigators have not yet determined the cause of the crash, and it would be premature to draw conclusions about the operator, the aircraft, or helicopter tourism more broadly.
But for advisors and their clients, the tragedy raises a reasonable question: how safe are helicopter excursions? The most honest answer is that the risk varies considerably.
Helicopter Safety Depends on the Trip
Private recreational flights, sightseeing tours, offshore transportation, agricultural work, air ambulance missions, and professionally managed charters all operate under different conditions. They involve different pilots, aircraft, maintenance programs, regulatory requirements, and commercial pressures.
U.S. data illustrate the variation. According to National Transportation Safety Board statistical reviews from 2015 to 2024, the last year with available information, general aviation rotorcraft (gyroplanes and helicopters) experienced approximately 6.18 accidents and 1.06 fatal accidents per 100,000 flight hours on average.
Commercial on-demand operations performed substantially better during the same period. Helicopters operating under Part 135—the US rules governing many charter, commuter, and air taxi flights—saw about 1.29 accidents and 0.29 fatal accidents per 100,000 hours on average.
These numbers are slightly higher than those for their fixed-wing counterparts: over the same time span, Part 135 fixed-wing aircraft averaged approximately 0.9 accidents and 0.16 fatal accidents per 100,000 hours. General aviation fixed-wing aircraft data is limited to 2018, 2021, 2023, and 2024; across those four years, there were 5.19 accidents and 0.88 fatal accidents per 100,000 flight hours on average.
These figures should not be treated as a universal prediction of passenger risk. General-aviation rotorcraft include everything from personal flying to agricultural and external-load operations, while Part 135 includes missions far removed from tourism. Still, the difference demonstrates how much the operating environment and professional oversight matter.
What Causes Helicopter Accidents?
The NTSB uses the term “defining event” for the situation that best characterizes an accident sequence. It should not be confused with cause, which typically involves multiple factors.
From 2015 through 2024, loss of control in flight was the leading defining event for non-fatal rotocraft accidents across both general aviation and Part 135 carriers; it was also the leading cause of fatal general rotocraft accidents in general aviation. Loss of control in flight can be attributed to many factors, including mechanical, human, and environmental factors—there’s usually not a single reason an aircraft fails in flight.
Among the 30 fatal Part 135 helicopter accidents, unintended flight into instrument meteorological conditions—such as entering cloud or fog without the ability or equipment to continue safely—was the leading defining event, appearing in eight. (In other words, weather-related cancellations are a good thing for helicopter operations.)
Other defining events in helicopter accidents include system/component failures, which include engine failure; bird strikes; and abnormal runway contact, among others.
Other Factors to Consider
Helicopters are maintenance-intensive.
Helicopters contain hundreds of thousands of parts operating under continuous vibration. Many components have strict limits on inspection, overhaul, or retirement based on flight hours, cycles, or calendar time. That makes helicopter maintenance intensive, so it’s important to know if the operator provides regular service to its aircraft.
Standards and oversight vary internationally.
International Civil Aviation Organization standards provide a common framework for aviation operations, but individual countries write, administer, and enforce their own regulations. National authorities vary in both their standards and their resources to enforce them. While the NTSB publishes its accident findings publicly, that’s not a universal standard—which can make it difficult to ascertain safety records abroad.
Questions to Ask Before Booking a Helicopter Flight
The safari company, hotel, cruise line, or tour outfitter selling a helicopter excursion may not be the company operating it. Advisors should identify the actual aviation provider and consider asking:
- Which country regulates the operator, and where is the aircraft registered?
- How many total and model-specific hours does the pilot have?
- How much experience does the pilot have with the local terrain, weather, and landing conditions?
- Who maintains the aircraft, and do the mechanics receive model-specific training?
- What is its weather cancellation policy?
- What equipment does the aircraft carry for terrain awareness, tracking, emergency communications, and survival?
- What is the rescue plan if a helicopter makes a precautionary or emergency landing in a remote area?
The Bottom Line: It Comes Down to Informed Risk
Helicopter travel is not risk-free. Helicopters fly close to terrain, operate from confined landing areas, and perform complicated maneuvers—while these capabilities can be risky to a degree, they also make possible experiences such as landing on the Greenland ice sheet, reaching an isolated mountain ridge, or viewing the Great Migration from above.
For some travelers, that access will be worth the additional risk. For others, it will not. An advisor’s responsibility is not to make that decision on a client’s behalf—or to offer blanket reassurance—but to understand who is operating the flight, how it is being conducted, and whether the aircraft and safety systems are in check.
