Introducing the Rotorcraft Collective
by Gene Trainor, FAA Compliance and Airworthiness Division Technical Writer
Getting the word out is a challenge for any organization. Businesses and governments spend millions if not billions of dollars annually on advertising, public relations, and public events all in an effort to reach audiences. We in the safety business are no different. This magazine and this column represent part of the FAA effort to promote safety. The FAA also uses social media, news releases, and safety conferences to get its messages out.
When a new entrant joins the aviation safety business, especially if it’s a grassroots group of people who know their stuff, it’s an exciting development. So join me in welcoming the Rotorcraft Collective to the aviation safety effort!
The Rotorcraft Collective is composed of around a dozen engineers, pilots, mechanics, accident investigators, and communication specialists from industry and the FAA. Together they produce safety videos to share with the public. The group made its video debut during the virtual 2020 FAA International Rotorcraft Safety Conference. Those who receive emails from the FAA Safety Team (FAASTeam) might have seen the Collective’s promotional video for this three-day conference in October. Others might have seen it on the conference website at faahelisafety.org.
During the conference, the group’s first safety video, which covered the importance of thorough preflight passenger briefings, premiered on the final day. During the four-and-a-half-minute video, viewers learn that passengers should be briefed about the following: the dangers of rotor blades, how to enter and exit a helicopter, securing cargo, wearing seatbelts, and never dropping anything from a helicopter. Narrator Randy Rowles, owner of the Helicopter Institute in Fort Worth, Texas, encourages pilots to have a colleague listen to their briefings or record them for future review.
Future safety videos will cover topics such as helicopter icing, pre-flight safety check walk-arounds, and securing internal and external cargo. Most will be under five minutes in length but still packed with information.
So how did the Rotorcraft Collective start? FAASTeam Program Manager Phil Dixon, the Collective’s leader, already produces and hosts the 57 Seconds to Safer Flying series that focuses on fixed-wing aircraft. When FAA Safety Liaison Team Lead Charlie Hamilton approached him about producing safety videos for helicopters, Phil readily agreed to pitch in. FAASTeam Manager Valerie Palazzolo also got behind the project.
Dixon noted that he seeks to make videos that are informative, entertaining, insightful, and concise. He and Hamilton recruited a team in May to choose topics, write scripts, film people and helicopters in action, and edit the final products. They coordinate with the U.S. Helicopter Safety Team. Though it now takes around four months to produce each video, Dixon and Hamilton hope to eventually cut that time in half.
“Videos lend themselves to being more instructional,” said Dixon, citing their effective combination of audio and visual elements. He further observed that “Social media is the newest form of mass communication.”
To see the video playlist, access this link bit.ly/RotorCollective.
Gene Trainor is a communications specialist/technical writer with the FAA Compliance and Airworthiness Division and a Rotorcraft Collective team member.
