How dangerous is it to fly by helicopter?

Crime without borders

How many nations are signed up to the International Criminal Court?

– 124 signed the Rome Statute in 1998 and ratified it.

– 31 have signed it but never ratified it (includes Iran, Thailand, Ukraine).

– 2 (Philippines, Burundi) ratified it but have subsequently withdrawn.

– 4 signed the statute, never ratified it and have since withdrawn (US, Russia, Israel and Sudan).

– 41 have never signed (including China, India, Turkey).

Chopper cropper

How dangerous is it to fly by helicopter as opposed to fixed-wing aircraft? It is hard to find comparable global statistics, but the National Transport Safety Board keeps figures for the US:

– In 2022 there were 7.2 accidents for every 100,000 hours flown by helicopter, of which 1.3 per 100,000 flying hours were fatal.

– The comparable figures for fixed-wing aircraft were 5.4 accidents per 100,000, of which 1 was fatal.

– The main causes of fatal helicopter accidents were:

Loss of control in flight 97

Failure of components 28

Low altitude operation 27

Engine failure 20

Issues with fuel 11

Loss of control on ground 7

Source: www.ntsb.gov

Stepping down

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris became the 66th Conservative MP to announce that he will not seek re-election at the general election later this year. Is this an unusually high number? MPs (of all parties) who did not seek re-election:

1979 61

1983 77

1987 88

1992 79

1997 117

2001 78

2005 86

2010 149

2015 90

2017 31

2019 74

Source: House of Commons Library