It was noted in the CHC Safety & Quality Summit article in the May 2012 issue (page 40) that the Sikorsky S-76 was specifically cited as “lacking in safety design requirements” in part because it does not have a crashworthy fuel system. I’m sure we all prefer to base our beliefs on facts instead of rules, so let’s look at the numbers. About 800 S-76 helicopters have been delivered since 1978 and these aircraft have accumulated about six million flight hours.
During that period, the S-76 has experienced four post-crash fires in survivable accidents. In those four accidents no person was injured by fire. In other words, if the S-76 had been equipped with a heavy, expensive crashworthy fuel system since the first delivery, not one person would have been saved from being burned. The reason that the S-76 has had such a good track record is the use of a suction fuel system, something that has been standard practice at Sikorsky since the early 1970s. Suction fuel systems are also rare even in current helicopter designs. Why they are not mandated by rule and by the customer is beyond me. They work.