The efforts of BALPA to reduce the number of helicopter crashes have intensified. The work of its helicopter committee has gained an even higher profile following separate recent accidents that killed a top rally driver and a millionaire football director.

Captain Glenn Christiansen, chairman of the helicopter committee, says: "First among priorities will be an effort to close the 'safety gap' between fixed and rotary wing operations. By their nature some helicopter operations have more risks attached." But: "Over 40 times higher the accident rate when compared to fixed wing operations is unacceptable."

Research focused on the support operations may help reduce accidents during private flights. According to Oil and Gas Producers' aviation

sub committee figures for 2000-2004, average accident rates in commercial operations were 23 per million flight hours in helicopter support operations, dropping to 6.4 for offshore airlift work. This compared with 0.6 per million hours in fixed wing operations. The committee intends, through questionnaire research, to isolate specifics that might help reduce accidents.

Two crew and five passengers died in the Morecambe Bay gas fields when an AS365N stopped to pick up passengers at two rigs and ditched 500 metres short of a third platform (EBAN February 2007).

More recently Subaru rally team chief Dave Richards and his wife Karen survived unhurt when their EC135 crash-landed near North Weald Airfield in Essex. Richards is ceo of Prodrive which runs the Subaru world rally team that Colin McRae, who died in a separate helicopter crash, won his world rally title with in 1995. McRae was killed along with his five-year-old son, Johnny. Two others died - Ben Porcelli (6), a friend of Johnny, and family friend Graeme Duncan of L'Ile Degaillot, Faycelles, France. McRae, an experienced helicopter pilot, won the world title for Subaru in 1995 and was runner-up three times.

Earlier this year millionaire businessman Phillip Carter, an honourary vice-chairman of Chelsea football club, and his son Andrew, 17, died when their Twin Squirrel crashed while flying back from a European cup football match (EBAN June 2007).