Medical helicopters to get collision warning systems

Medical helicopters, involved in a record number of fatalities last year, will be required to have collision-warning devices under a federal rule due to take effect in 2011.

The rule will require the 60 percent of operators without plans to install the devices to do so, John Allen, director of FAA's flight standards, told reporters.

The devices warn pilots when they come too close to land, aircraft or other obstructions. Honeywell International Inc. is among companies that produce the equipment, which costs about $100,000 for each helicopter.

Thirteen crashes killed 29 people last year in helicopters that rush sick and injured people to hospitals, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

Among them were four killed when an Air Angels helicopter carrying 1-year-old Kirstin Blockinger crashed in Aurora last Oct. 15 after clipping a wire to a radio tower. The child and all three crew members died. The child's parents have pushed the FAA to require collision-warning devices.

The FAA's rule also will require cockpit voice and data recorders in helicopters, pilot training for flying into unexpected bad weather and routine evaluation of flight risks before each liftoff, Allen said following a U.S. House hearing.

The FAA regulates 73 companies that operate the helicopters, and about 850 of the aircraft are in service, according to the FAA. The agency hasn't yet determined how much all of the rule's requirements will cost operators, Allen said.