Look out below!

In 2019 the TSB recorded 28 accidental or inadvertent releases of underslung loads. The causes were many including pilot SLOJ, improper longline wiring, longline caught in the tail rotor, insecure loads, unstable loads, and multiple failures of rigging. These are just the ones they found out about.

Slinging accidents happen mostly to experienced pilots - a natural conclusion as they are the ones who are capable of this demanding work. Simply having a pilot who knows what they are doing is no guarantee that everything will go well.

Getting pressured into a risky situation, accepting hazards, fatigue and distraction can push the expert into failure. Professional crew can minimize the dangers of slinging by being proactive and situationally aware. For example, always being thoroughly briefed (so if things start to go sideways they will know), watching the load on arrival and the hook on departure, never getting underneath it, checking the rigging every time, having communication with the pilot, using hand signals, never overloading the aircraft by adjusting load weights to the fuel burn of the helicopter, and making sure the pilot is in the loop.

60% of accidents occur on the pick up of the load, so being engaged and aware is a good way of staying part of the Perfect Crew.