- Helicopters are safer than airplanes.
- If the engine stops, the helicopter rotor continues to spin, allowing the machine to slowly land, generally without crashing to the ground.
- Modern-day helicopters are no more difficult to fly than many types of fixed-wing airplanes.
- Helicopters are the safest aircraft to fly in bad weather, as they can slow down, stop, and/or fly backwards or sideways.
- More than 3 million lives have been saved by helicopters in both peacetime and wartime operations since the first person was rescued from the sea using a helicopter in 1944.
- There are more than 15,000 civil helicopters operating in more than 157 countries around the world.
- If you include military helicopters, it is estimated that there are more than 45,000 operating worldwide.
- Helicopters can be flown across oceans if additional fuel is made available or in-flight refuelling is carried out.
- If you want to travel 300 to 400 miles, the helicopter is often the quickest means of transportation.
- Tilting the main rotors enables the helicopter to lift, go forward, go backwards, or move sideways. The power provided by the engine is principally used to turn the rotors.