How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 22 severe cases involving helicopters over the last decade. These incidents frequently result in fractures, which represent 55% of all reported injuries. Such trauma often requires extensive medical intervention and long-term rehabilitation.
The severity of these injuries is compounded by the nature of aviation work. You face high-impact forces during rotor strikes, falls from height, and aircraft collisions.
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Check My BenefitsHow these injuries happen
Injuries involving helicopters typically stem from the unique hazards of aviation maintenance and operations. The most common events include aircraft-related incidents and falls to lower levels, which account for 23% of cases. You are often injured while performing routine maintenance, such as closing cowlings or securing tie-downs, where unexpected rotor movement or slips from elevated surfaces lead to severe trauma.
| Cause | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Other aircraft incident— n.e.c. | 7 |
| 2 | Other fall to lower level | 5 |
| 3 | Aircraft incidents— unspecified | 3 |
| 4 | In-flight crash, collision | 2 |
| 5 | Caught, entangled in running powered equipment— normal operation | 1 |
| 6 | Non-passenger struck by aircraft | 1 |
| 7 | Struck by rolling powered vehicle or machinery | 1 |
| 8 | Struck against stationary object | 1 |
Where injuries happen most
Transportation and warehousing and public administration each account for 27% of helicopter-related injuries. These sectors rely heavily on aerial support for logistics and tactical operations. The high frequency of incidents in these industries is driven by the constant interaction between you and active aircraft, where strict adherence to safety protocols is essential to prevent catastrophic contact with rotors or falls from the fuselage.
Real cases like yours
Common themes in these incidents include failures in communication between ground crews and pilots, inadequate guarding of moving parts, and hazardous environmental conditions created by rotor wash. You may be injured while performing routine maintenance or during tactical training exercises. If any of these scenarios sound like what happened to you, an attorney can help you review the specifics of your incident to determine if employer negligence played a role.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | TX | Transportation & Warehousing | "An employee was performing maintenance on a helicopter. The employee slipped and fell, striking an integrated step and a window on the helicopter before landing on the hangar floor. The employee suffered broken ribs, fractured vertebrae, and a laceration to the back of the head." | |
| 2025 | LA | Transportation & Warehousing | "An employee was stepping down from an aircraft after closing a cowling. The drip rail of the aircraft caught his left little finger and broke it." | |
| 2024 | NM | Public Administration | "On July 17, 2024, an agent was conducting airborne tactical insertion training when they landed faster than expected and sustained a fractured sacrum, a laceration to their right shin, a puncture wound to the top of their left foot, and multiple abrasions to the lower extremities." | |
| 2024 | UT | Public Administration | "An employee was engaged in fire fighting operations on a mountain ridge and was receiving assistance from an airborne vehicle. The air vehicle was at a low elevation when the water drop or rotor wash from the air support caused trees to fall down. The employee was struck by a falling tree, resulting in fractures to their shoulder and face and a dislocated jaw." | |
| 2024 | AL | Transportation & Warehousing | "A maintenance crew was working on a helicopter. The injured employee climbed the back of the helicopter to attach a tie-down rope to the aircraft rotor. While he was securing the rope to the rotor, it rotated and struck him, causing him to slide down the side of the helicopter and strike the fuel fuselage before impacting the ground. The employee fractured his left tibia and fibula." | |
| 2023 | LA | Transportation & Warehousing | "An employee was working on a helicopter when they fell from the top of the aircraft to the ground, resulting in a head injury." | |
| 2022 | NH | Construction | "An employee was working in bucket truck with a helicopter that had a suspended load. The load struck the employee and he was hospitalized with a broken arm, which required surgery." | |
| 2022 | NM | Accommodation & Food Services | "An employee was performing firefighting duties on the ground when a helicopter above the employee dropped water onto the ground as a fire retardant. The employee was struck by the water, resulting in a broken jaw and facial lacerations. The employee also sustained lacerations to the right thumb and wrist that required stitches and left knee fractures as well as general bruising to the entire body." | |
| 2021 | NY | Transportation & Warehousing | "An employee was preparing an inoperable AH-64 Apache Helicopter for tractor-trailer removal from the training area. During the process, the helicopter rolled on its side and caught the employee's left leg underneath it resulting in a fractured tibia, fibula, and ankle." | |
| 2021 | CA | Public Administration | "An employee was rappelling from a helicopter when he fell to the ground, resulting in a broken leg." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.