AS350 B3e course · Emergencies
The rest of the list
Low fuel, ditching, inadvertent IMC, bird strike, doors, load jettison
The essentials
Not every emergency starts with a failure. Several start with a decision:
- low fuel — the warning is a deadline, not an estimate
- inadvertent cloud — the time to turn back was before it
- ditching — water changes what survives a landing
- bird strikes, open doors and cowlings — damage from outside
- load jettison, the rotor rpm horn and new vibrations — each a message to act on
As everywhere in this part: recognition and reasons here, procedures in the RFM.
Source 1
Low fuel
The low-fuel warning comes from its own sensor, separate from the gauge, and means a reserve is all that's left. If the two disagree, believe the one that gives you less fuel.
Fuel exhaustion and starvation are a recurring cause of engine stoppages in light helicopters. When the warning comes on, the decision is where to land — with power, on your terms — not how far the reserve might go.
Starvation with fuel on board
Fuel in the tank only feeds the engine while it covers the outlet. With little fuel left, steep attitudes, uncoordinated flight or turbulence can uncover it — the FAA handbook warns against erratic manoeuvring that could interrupt fuel flow.
Contamination does the rest: water, debris or ice blocking the flow. A fuel filter caution, where fitted, says the filter is clogging; once it bypasses, unfiltered fuel reaches the engine. Unusable fuel and attitude limits are in the RFM.
Inadvertent cloud
Flight into cloud or darkness by a VFR pilot is a leading cause of fatal helicopter accidents: in US Helicopter Safety Team data, unintended IMC accounted for 17 percent of fatal accidents in 2009–13, alongside loss of control and low-altitude flying.
It rarely starts with a wall of cloud. It starts with lowering cloud, rain, flat light, snow or a dark area with no lights — and a pilot pressing on a little further. Without a horizon, the body's sense of attitude is wrong within moments.
What the handbook teaches
The FAA handbook's recovery from inadvertent IMC is built around one idea: transfer to the instruments at once and trust them. In general terms it describes levelling the wings on the attitude indicator, establishing a climb at a safe speed, and holding a heading known to be clear of obstacles — then dealing with navigation and ATC.
The real defence is earlier: a decision point set before the flight, and a turn back while there is still somewhere to turn.
Source 1
An Astar in cloud
Most Astars are flown VFR, by hand. Unless your aircraft has an approved autopilot or stability augmentation, nothing holds the attitude for you, and a helicopter left to itself will not stay level.
Instrument skills fade without practice. A pilot who has not flown on instruments for a long time should treat the cloud as something to avoid at almost any cost — including a precautionary landing.
Ditching
A helicopter on water is top-heavy: engine, gearbox and rotor sit high above a light cabin. Without flotation it tends to roll over and sink quickly, often with the rotor striking the water as it goes.
Getting out of an inverted, flooded cabin is disorienting even for people who know the exits. That's why over-water operators train underwater escape, and why exits are briefed before the flight, not during the descent.
Emergency floats
Emergency floats pack on the skids and inflate on command. They buy stability and time on the water — they don't make the aircraft a boat.
They come with an RFM supplement: when to arm them, the speed and height envelope for inflation, and the limits for flight with floats fitted or inflated. A float kit you have not read the supplement for is a float kit you may inflate outside its envelope.
Source 4
Over water, before it happens
Ditching survival is mostly decided on the ground: life jackets worn, not stowed; a raft where it can be reached; passengers briefed on exits, belts and when to inflate a jacket (outside the aircraft).
In flight, height over water is time and glide distance to shore. Route choices over water are part of the emergency plan.
Source 3
Bird strike
A bird strike arrives as a bang. It can crack or penetrate the windshield, injure or blind the pilot with debris and wind, or damage the rotor, tail rotor or engine intake — which shows as a new vibration, a yaw or a change in engine readings.
Helicopters spend their time where birds are: low, near water, coast and fields. The first job after a strike is the usual one — fly the aircraft — then assess what was hit, and land.
Why the windshield won't stop it
Small helicopters certificated to the US Part 27 standard had no bird-strike requirement for their windshields when, after an S-76C++ bird strike that killed eight people, the NTSB recommended adding one in 2010. Europe added one to CS-27 in 2021 — but only for new designs with six or more passenger seats, and in 2024 EASA decided not to apply it to existing types.
The Astar's windshield was not designed to either. A helmet with a visor is the protection a pilot can choose for themselves.
A door or cowling opens
An open door brings noise, wind and the risk that anything loose — a map, a bag, the door itself — leaves the aircraft towards the rotors. An open cowling can tear off and strike the main or tail rotor.
Airflow loads grow with speed, so speed is part of the problem. The priority is the aircraft, not the door: no reaching out, no passengers trying to close it. Latches and cowlings are on the walkaround because this has happened.
Load jettison
Releasing an external load is an emergency action when the load threatens the aircraft: an engine failure, a load fouled on something, an oscillation that won't damp.
The release must work when needed — the electrical release on the controls and the manual backup are both checked before flight. And a released load, or a light empty line, can fly back towards the aircraft; where it falls, and who is below, are part of the plan.
The rotor rpm horn
The horn sounds when rotor rpm leaves its range — low or, in some installations, high. Low means the rotor is losing lift and control margin; high means the rotor and drive are being over-stressed. In both, the collective is the first response.
It can sound in autorotation as you turn or flare — rpm rising — as well as at engine failure. Learn what each tone in your aircraft means, and never silence it to think.
A new vibration
The FAA handbook groups abnormal vibrations by frequency. Low-frequency vibrations usually come from the main rotor; higher frequencies from faster-turning parts — the tail rotor, the drive shafts, the engine.
What matters most is change: a vibration that appears suddenly, after a bang or a strike, or that grows, is a warning in its own right. Land and have it found. A slow change over weeks is for maintenance to hear about.
What does the low-fuel warning mean?
A reserve. The decision is where to land with power, not how far the reserve might stretch.
You fly inadvertently into cloud. What does the FAA handbook's recovery start with?
Instruments first, wings level, then a climb on a heading clear of obstacles.
Why does a helicopter tend to roll over after ditching?
It is top-heavy. Floats, briefed exits and underwater escape training exist for that reason.
Does Part 27 require small helicopters' windshields to resist a bird strike?
Part 27 had none when the NTSB recommended one. Europe's 2021 rule covers only new designs with six or more passenger seats.
A low-frequency vibration appears suddenly. Where is it most likely coming from?
Low frequency usually points to the main rotor. Higher frequencies point to faster-turning parts.
Sources
- Helicopter Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-21B) · FAA · Chapter 11, Helicopter Emergencies and Hazards
- Helicopter Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-21B) · FAA · Chapter 4, Helicopter Components, Sections, and Systems
- Helicopter Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-21B) · FAA · Chapter 8, Ground Procedures and Flight Preparations
- Helicopter Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-21B) · FAA · Chapter 5, Rotorcraft Flight Manual
- Fatal helicopter accident rate climbing · Aviation International News · 5 March 2019 (US Helicopter Safety Team data, 2009–13 baseline vs 2018)
- Helicopter Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-21B) · FAA · Chapter 3, Helicopter Flight Controls
- Safety Recommendations A-10-136 through -147 (Sikorsky S-76C++ N748P bird strike) · NTSB · 23 November 2010; Part 27 discussion and A-10-147
- Terms of Reference RMT.0726, Rotorcraft occupant safety in the event of a bird strike · EASA · Issue 1, 8 September 2020
- Explanatory Note to ED Decision 2021/016/R (CS-27 Amendment 9: CS 27.631 Bird strike) · EASA · 17 December 2021; Executive summary and §2.3 (six or more passenger seats)
- Explanatory Note to ED Decision 2024/011/R (RMT.0726 Subtask 2, retroactive application) · EASA · Executive summary and §2.4 (task terminated without retroactive rule)
- AC 133-1B, Rotorcraft External-Load Operations · FAA
- 14 CFR Part 133, Rotorcraft External-Load Operations · U.S. eCFR
Educational only. Not approved training material, and never a substitute for the Rotorcraft Flight Manual, an instructor, or your operator's procedures. Figures marked as manufacturer data or test results are not limitations. This content is a draft and has not yet been reviewed by an instructor.