In a rare presentation by a Chinese official, Capt. Zhang Yu, a representative of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), gave an update on the state of the helicopter industry in the country at the EASA Rotorcraft Safety Symposium earlier this month. In 2014 (the last year for which data is available) 538 civil helicopters were flying in China, up from 385 the year before. The number of operators has increased, too, from 55 to 82.
The top five CCAR-135 operators are Citic Oceanic Helicopter Co., China Southern Zhuhai Helicopter Co., East General Aviation Co., China Flying Dragon General Aviation Co. and Capital Helicopter Co.
There were 1,519 helicopter pilots (holders of a private, commercial or airline transport certificate) as of 2014. This represented a 22 percent increase over 2013 and more than double the 2010 pilot population. Training resources for those pilots remains a challenge, said Zhang.
He also gave some safety statistics. There were seven accidents in 2013, one in 2014 and six between January and September last year. Of these, two were the resultof power line strikes, one from weather and one from a combination of weather and terrain. Two accidents are still under investigation.