Safety & Innovation
An Exceptional Combination of Talent, Passion and Experience
An Exceptional Combination of Talent, Passion and Experience
CHC Helicopter has an industry-leading safety record and is at the forefront of developing safety within the helicopter world.
Our strong safety culture is based on a commitment to doing no harm to people, property or the environment. Our commitment is supported by a safety infrastructure that is second to none and spans every aspect of our business.
CHC has implemented an integrated Safety Management System (SMS) that gives every team member the authority to identify, report and correct unsafe practices and procedures. We use a standardized system for incident reporting and analysis, where recognizing common risks helps prevent negative issues or mitigate their effects.
Our impressive safety record is built on advanced training programs, best-in-class maintenance practices, transformative technologies, and a corporate culture focused on safety. We are committed to developing, adopting and sharing best practices from both rotary and fixed wing aviation. We serve as leaders in a variety of industry organizations and were a founding member of HeliOffshore. Additionally, we continue to support the International Helicopter Safety Team.
We also set the example for industry collaboration on existing and emerging safety systems, tools and initiatives. CHC’s annual Safety & Quality Summit attracts many hundreds of safety professionals to discuss and share safety innovations in their areas.
Our safety culture plays a critical role in delivering our excellent safety record. All employees, from flight-crew to corporate personnel work with our integrated SMS. Identifying individual commitment to safety allows every employee to understand his or her role in continuing to make CHC the safest operation in the industry.
CHC’s modern fleet is equipped with the latest technology and innovative monitoring systems. CHC reaches beyond regulatory standards by using additional onboard safety technologies including Helicopter Terrain Awareness and Warning System (HTAWS), which is a further refinement of the Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System known as EGPWS. The majority of the fleet is equipped with this technology. Satellite-based flight tracking technology ensures that CHC’s ground crews can remotely monitor the progress of flights and can maintain communication at all times, with ADS-B technology also allowing seamless integration into modern Air Traffic Management systems.
CHC’s global supply chain is on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. A team of logistics professionals and a network of strategically located warehouses manage all our material needs—from sourcing, storing and shipping parts to ensuring quality control. The goal is to keep the aircraft serviceable through our supply chain, which is dedicated to providing the fastest turnaround times in the industry.
The condition of CHC aircraft is continually monitored to identify potentially hazardous conditions. A suite of airframe and engine Health and Usage Monitoring Systems (HUMS) allows for early identification of possible defects. These systems include detection of advanced wear in major components, the general condition of the airframe and engines, and is used to minimize airframe/drive train vibration levels. All data is reviewed at the aircraft and/or on a dedicated ground station computer for analysis and archiving. Additional support is available from specific CHC centers and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) aircraft health monitoring departments.
From processing paperwork to piloting aircraft, our integrated Safety Management System (SMS) permeates every facet of our business. It is a systematic process that is used to identify potential hazards, assess risk and develop appropriate response plans. The integrated SMS drives our culture of safety and is the primary reason CHC has an industry-leading accident avoidance rate and superior quality standards.
We have multiple systems in place to continually improve our safety record. These systems are both proactive and reactive in nature to guarantee low risk, while retaining the ability to respond quickly and systematically when issues arise. The systems include flight data analysis, a robust reporting system, incident and accident investigation procedures, and end-to-end tracking of corrective actions.
Our SMS is also integrated with ISO 9001, 14001 and 18001 certifications to make sure we remain focused on customer needs and our one commitment of no harm to people, property or the environment.