U.S. Army Aviation Life Support Equipment Retrieval Program. U.S. Army AircrewRescue and Factors Delaying Rescue

摘要

Despite strict flight discipline, U.S. Army aircraft infrequently suffer inflightmishaps. This is a retrospective study of aircrew survival and rescue in 97 mishaps investigated by the U.S. Army Safety Center from October 1988 to June 1990. To identify factors delaying rescue, later mishaps were compared with 37 mishaps where the time to reach the mishap site exceeded 2 hours. The average time to reach a mishap site was 2.2 hours, but over 90 percent were reached within 2 hours. There were two or more survivors at 82 percent of the sites, and 98 percent of the downed aircrew had at least personal survival equipment available. Adverse operational and environmental factors were more common in delayed rescue mishaps. Sudden aircraft failure was three times more common in prolonged rescue mishaps, while night or instrument meterologic conditions contributed eight times and four times greater risk of delay, respectively. Rescues in mountainous terrain or over water were seven times more likely to be delayed. While fatalities were more common with prolonged rescue, there were no mishaps where a delay in reaching the crash site resulted in loss of life.