LEGAL STORIES AND INSIGHTS FROM BREWERWOOD.

The summer months are peak times for those who enjoy heading up to the skies, and that also means that it’s the time when most helicopter accidents occur. The number of reported helicopter accidents has been slowly decreasing since 2006 at a rate of about 2 percent a year, but there are still many more accidents than Arizona residents may think.

According to statistics from the United States Helicopter Safety Team, 62 civil helicopter accidents were reported in the first six months of 2014. That is down 17 percent from last year, which had 75 accidents from January 2013 to June 2013. The number of fatal accidents is down by a substantially larger percentage. So far this year, nine of those 62 accidents were fatal, killing 15 people in total. In the first half of 2013, there were 18 fatal accidents which killed a total of 41 people across the United States.

This doesn’t mean the danger is over, however. July is known as the “deadly” month and almost always has a higher rate of fatal accidents than any of the other months. On average, July has 30 percent more accidents — and 25 percent more fatal accidents — than the other summer months.

The number of helicopter accidents has been going down since the International Helicopter Safety Team was formed to focus on industry-wide efforts to make helicopter travel safer, but helicopter accidents can be caused by adverse weather conditions, an inexperienced or distracted pilot or even an aircraft defect or problem. Victims injured in these types of aviation accidents can find out more about their legal options by discussing their situations with an attorney versed in these cases.