International Helicopter Safety Foundation (IHSF)

Vertical Aviation Safety Team (VAST)

Background, goal and methods

The International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST) was established following the International Helicopter Safety Symposium (IHSS) held in September 2005 in Montreal, Canada, where the central theme was the recognition that long term helicopter accident rates have remained unacceptably high and trends have not shown significant improvement over the last 20 years. A call to action was unanimously accepted by those in attendance at IHSS 2005.