Bird strikes a primary safety threat to rotorcraft

The recent exponential growth in global bird populations, combined with the increase in global air traffic, has caused bird strikes to become a primary safety threat and financial burden to rotorcraft operators.

Precise Flight, Inc. has updated its Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the Pulselite® Bird Strike Prevention System to include installation instructions for the Bell 407GX and 407GXP variations.

The system is an FAA certified lightweight electrical system controller that alternately pulses the landing and auxiliary lights of a helicopter, thereby increasing its visibility and reflecting the speed and directional movement of the aircraft. In addition to enhancing the margin of safety by increasing aircraft recognition, the system has been proven to significantly reduce bird strikes.

The system is certified for all major rotorcraft models through the Federal Aviation Administration and was recently granted foreign covalidation from the European Aviation Safety Administration (EASA) and the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) for Bell 407 aircraft.

“The Bell 407 program has quickly become one of the most exciting and successful programs in the global rotorcraft industry,” said Doug La Placa, Chief Executive Officer of Precise Flight, Inc. “Precise Flight is excited to expand our STC to better support the GX and GXP variations, and we will continue to invest in the Pulselite STC to make this critical safety system available to Bell’s growing customer base around the world.”

The system is installed on some of the world’s largest rotorcraft fleets, including Air Methods, Metro Aviation, Maverick Helicopters, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Forest Service, and PHI Helicopters, Inc.