National Guard Helicopters: Additional Actions Needed to Prevent Accidents and Improve Safety
Fast Facts
The National Guard is comprised of Army and Air Force components. Both components fly helicopters to perform domestic and overseas missions. Together, they reported 298 accidents—mostly due to human errors—for certain helicopters during non-combat flights between FYs 2012-2021.
We found that the Army and Air National Guard could improve how they promote safety. For example, safety officers have limited time to focus on safety issues—such as leading safety briefings—because they are often responsible for a variety of other duties.
We recommended, among other things, that the National Guard components reassess their safety officer workload.
Army National Guard’s Black Hawk Helicopter
Highlights
What GAO Found
Army and Air National Guard reported 298 helicopter accidents during non-combat flight operations from fiscal years 2012 through 2021. Approximately 45 of those were considered serious helicopter accidents in that they involved death, permanent disability, extensive hospitalization, property damages of $500,000 or more, or a destroyed helicopter (see figure). These non-combat helicopter accidents fluctuated over time and were mainly due to human errors such as not following training standards, overconfidence, poor communication, and lack of awareness, according to GAO's analysis of Department of Defense data.
Reported Army and Air National Guard Serious Helicopter Accidents, Fiscal Years 2012 through 2021
Note: Serious helicopter accidents include those that involved death, permanent disability, extensive hospitalization, property damages of $500,000 or more, or a destroyed helicopter. GAO analyzed non-combat helicopter accidents for four Army National Guard and one Air National Guard helicopter types, which were the primary helicopters used by the National Guard in fiscal years 2012 through 2021.
The Army and Air National Guard use a variety of processes to promote safety and reduce risks during helicopter training, but the effectiveness of their respective flight safety training programs can be improved. National Guard helicopter units use risk management processes during aviation operations, but GAO found each component did not continuously evaluate and update unit level risk management worksheets to incorporate relevant safety information such as accident data and unit culture surveys. By evaluating these worksheets on a routine and recurring basis, Army and Air National Guard helicopter units will ensure those units have cyclical feedback and evaluation of this key risk management process to help ensure risk management procedures are effective.
The Army and Air National Guard established flying hour goals, but pilots did not fly enough on average to meet them due to lack of aircrew availability, maintenance issues, and simulator access. For example, having too few maintenance personnel limited the number of helicopters available for training. The Army and Air Force, including their National Guard components, have taken steps to mitigate these challenges, such as conducting formal studies, but these steps have not fully addressed the identified challenges. By developing comprehensive strategies, the Army and Air Force would be better positioned to fully address the identified challenges that have hindered National Guard helicopter pilot training.
Why GAO Did This Study
National Guard helicopter units perform a range of federal and state missions, including combat search and rescue, medical evacuations, and disaster relief. The Army and Air National Guard experienced helicopter accidents that resulted in the deaths of 28 National Guard personnel during fiscal years 2012 through 2021, based on reported data.
GAO was asked to review issues related to National Guard helicopter accidents. This report examines (1) the trends from fiscal years 2012 through 2021 in reported Army and Air National Guard helicopter accidents in non-combat scenarios and reported causes; and evaluates the extent to which (2) the Army and Air National Guard used existing processes to promote safety and reduce risks during helicopter training; and (3) the Army and Air Force have addressed challenges, if any, that hindered National Guard helicopter pilot training.
GAO analyzed accident data from fiscal years 2012 through 2021; reviewed documents; and interviewed officials from a non-generalizable sample of units selected based on factors such as locations where accidents occurred.
Recommendations
GAO is making 8 recommendations to the Army and Air Force, including that they take steps to ensure that their National Guard helicopter units continuously evaluate and update risk management worksheets and develop comprehensive strategies to address challenges that have hindered National Guard helicopter pilot training. The department generally agreed with GAO's recommendations.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of the Army | The Secretary of the Army should ensure that the Director of the Army National Guard, in coordination with the Army Combat Readiness Center, establishes a system of record for tracking the status of accident investigation recommendations through implementation. (Recommendation 1) |
The Army concurred with this recommendation. In a corrective action plan provided to us in February 2024, Army officials shared plans to update the Army's mishap reporting system to have more comprehensive recommendation tracking. In the meantime, the Army stated it is manually tracking the recommendations. The Army estimates that these actions will be completed by the end of September 2024. We have reached out to the Army for an update and are awaiting a response. When it takes these actions, the Army will be able to track recommendations, no matter the component, through to implementation, as GAO recommended in March 2023.
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| Department of the Army |
Priority Rec.
The Secretary of the Army should ensure the Chief of Staff of the Army, in coordination with the Director of the Army National Guard, updates safety or operational guidance to establish a process to continuously evaluate and update operational risk management worksheets for Army National Guard helicopter units to reflect relevant safety information such as accident data, hazard reporting, and unit culture surveys. (Recommendation 2) |
The Army concurred with this recommendation. In a corrective action plan provided to us in February 2024, Army officials noted that they intend to update Army Regulation 385-10 "The Army Safety Program" to reflect the need for a well-defined process for continuous evaluation of operational risk management practices that is informed by relevant safety data. The Army estimates that these actions will be completed by the end of December 2024. We have reached out to the Army for an update and are awaiting a response. When it takes these actions, the Army will be able to ensure that risk management worksheets reflect relevant and up-to-date safety information, as GAO recommended in March 2023.
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| Department of the Air Force |
Priority Rec.
The Secretary of the Air Force, in coordination with the Chief of Staff of the Air Force and the Director of the Air National Guard, should incorporate an evaluation of unit processes for updating risk management worksheets as a component of the Air Force's unit inspection program or other means to ensure that the worksheets reflect relevant safety information such accident data, hazard reporting, and unit culture surveys. (Recommendation 3) |
The Air Force partially concurred with this recommendation. In response, in October 2023 Air National Guard Safety added an inspection item to the Safety Program Evaluation checklist specific to Air National Guard units. The new inspection item requires Air National Guard helicopter wing Chiefs of Safety to review and update the aircrew risk management worksheet for currency of aviation safety hazards and trends on at least an annual basis. Further, the Major Commands that conduct unit effectiveness inspections for Air National Guard units are required to inspect units' compliance with regularly updating risk management worksheets to include current safety hazards and trends. By taking these actions, the Air National Guard will be better positioned to ensure its units are continuously updating a key risk management process consistent with Air Force guidance, as GAO recommended in March 2023.
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| Department of the Army |
Priority Rec.
The Secretary of the Army should ensure the Army Training and Doctrine Command's Army Aviation Center of Excellence, in coordination with the Director of the Army National Guard, develops a coordinated plan and identifies the resources necessary for conducting in-flight aviation standardization program evaluations of Army National Guard helicopter unit aircrews on a regular and recurring basis. (Recommendation 4) |
The Army concurred with this recommendation. In a corrective action plan provided to us in February 2024, Army officials noted that a review of the resourcing requirements to support the Directorate of Evaluations and Standardizations to start re-occurring assessments for the Army National Guard helicopter units is complete. The Army's assessment determined that conducting recurring standard evaluations for National Guard units would require the Directorate of Evaluations and Standards to increase its standard evaluation personnel levels by 15 percent and that it would cost an additional $300,000 in annual travel costs. In subsequent discussions, Army officials explained that, based on this review, the Directorate of Evaluations and Standardization is considering two courses of action to increase the frequency of Army National Guard aviation unit assessments. One longer-term course of action would require an overall increase in the number of authorized positions and staffing levels. This would allow for Army National Guard aviation unit assessment frequency on par with active component aviation units that occur every 2-3 years. Another near-term course of action under review by the Directorate of Evaluations and Standardization would increase Army National Guard aviation unit assessment frequency to every 3-5 years by utilizing personnel from the Directorate of Evaluations and Standardization and Army National Guard and Army Reserve unit designees that would be certified to conduct the assessments. This option requires that the Directorate of Evaluations and Standardization identifies enough experienced and qualified pilots within the Army National Guard and Army Reserve who would be available for temporary duty to conduct the assessments. While these steps provide analytical support to identify potential staffing needs and travel costs for more frequently performing in-flight standardization evaluations, the Army did not commit to conducting such evaluations of Army National Guard helicopter unit aircrews on a regular and recurring basis. We have reached out to the Army for an update and are awaiting a response. By implementing a plan to actually perform in-flight standardization evaluations that dedicates adequate resources, the Army will be better positioned to conduct regular, recurring in-flight standardization program assessments, as GAO recommended in March 2023.
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| Department of the Army | The Secretary of Army should ensure the Director of the Army National Guard assesses the resource and workload allocations of safety personnel to determine whether helicopter units are appropriately staffed, or if any adjustments are needed to workloads or resource levels to implement operational flight safety programs. (Recommendation 5) |
The Army concurred with this recommendation with comment. In a corrective action plan provided to us in February 2024, Army officials noted that they intend to perform a staffing-level study as there is not a recent, comprehensive study for staffing aviation flight facilities. The Army estimates that this study will be completed by the end of September 2028. When it takes this action, the Army will have visibility on whether their aviation facilities are appropriately staffed and what an appropriate staffing level would be, which is in alignment with what GAO recommended in March 2023.
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| Department of the Air Force | The Secretary of the Air Force should ensure the Director of the Air National Guard assesses the resource and workload allocations of safety personnel to determine whether helicopter units are appropriately staffed, or if any adjustments are needed to workloads or resource levels to implement operational flight safety programs. (Recommendation 6) |
The Air Force concurred with this recommendation. In a corrective action plan provided to us in July 2023, Air Force officials stated that, based on a March 2023 review, all three Air National Guard helicopter units were verified as funded appropriately for full time safety manning for a flying wing as stated in Air Force Instruction 91-202 and Air National Guard standard 11H100. This action meets the intent of our recommendation that the Air Force assess the resource and workload allocations of safety personnel to determine whether helicopter units are appropriately staffed to implement operational flight safety programs.
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| Department of the Army |
Priority Rec.
The Secretary of the Army should ensure that the Chief of Staff of the Army, in coordination with the Director of the Army National Guard, develops a comprehensive strategy that includes goals, priorities, and performance measures to address the challenges that hinder Army National Guard helicopter pilot training. (Recommendation 7) |
The Army concurred with this recommendation. In a corrective action plan provided to us in February 2024, Army National Guard officials recommended the Army establish a working group to identify challenges and develop a strategy with the Army Aviation Enterprise and the Combat Readiness Center to meet the challenges which are currently hindering pilot training and determine the trends and solutions which will address pilot training friction points in the future. In February 2024, the Army estimated that establishing the working group and developing recommendations will take until the end of April 2024. However, as of June 2024, the Army has not provided us any documentation showing it had completed this action. We have reached out to the Army for an update and are awaiting a response. By establishing the working group and making recommendations to improve National Guard helicopter pilot training, the Army will have a comprehensive approach to address training challenges facing that community, as GAO recommended in March 2023.
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| Department of the Air Force |
Priority Rec.
The Secretary of the Air Force should ensure that the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, in coordination with the Director of the Air National Guard, develops a comprehensive strategy that includes goals, priorities, and performance measures to address the challenges that hinder Air National Guard helicopter pilot training. (Recommendation 8) |
The Air Force concurred with this recommendation. In a corrective action plan provided to us in February 2024, Air Force officials shared plans to develop an actionable and comprehensive strategy to update its Ready Aircrew Flying Hour Program goals to reflect the information in our report. Additionally, the Air National Guard will require an initial and midyear comparative review of personnel funding and the flying hour program for each unit to ensure units are adequately resourced to achieve the goals set by the Ready Aircrew Program. Further, Air Force Unit Effectiveness Inspection and Continual Evaluation worksheets will include a specific item to verify Air National Guard helicopter unit's compliance with existing risk management directives. The Air Force estimates that these actions will be completed by the end of September 2024. We have reached out to the Air Force for an update and are awaiting a response. By taking these actions, the Air Force will be better able to identify and mitigate the training challenges faced by Air National Guard helicopter units, as GAO recommended in March 2023.
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