The 280FX offers an exceptional safety record and building safe helicopters is one of Enstrom's finest qualities. For us safety means confidence in all aspects of flight and at the end of the day that counts for everything.

Please visit the National Transportation Safety Board's accident database via the link to the right and compare Enstrom's safety record to other helicopters in it's class, you'll quickly see there is no comparison when it comes to number of accidents and more importantly the welfare of the occupants when an accident does occur.

The 280FX creates safety through a number of design attributes. The 280FX's high inertia rotor system, substantial landing gear structure, and excellent tail rotor authority, in addition to a number of other well thought out safety features, make the 280FX extremely forgiving in the event of an emergency. In addition the 280FX's flight characteristics and handling properties allow the pilot to avoid unsafe situations to begin with and/or operate in conditions that would comprise the safety of other helicopters.

Rotor System-
Enstrom's fully articulated main rotor system is a work of engineering art. At over 300 pounds (rotor hub and blades) the system provides exceptionally high inertia, which means the blades want to keep spinning in the event of a power loss, giving the pilot more time to react. And time means safety.
The 280FX's autorotation characteristics are outstanding, low disc loading combined with the high inertia rotor system means a relatively low rate of descent and plenty of reserve thrust left at the bottom to safely land the helicopter. Enstrom's rotor system has over 3 million flight hours without catastrophic failure.

Airframe and Landing Gear-
The 280FX's landing gear and crossbeam structure is extremely robust and will easily withstand impacts that have the potential to incapacitate other helicopters.

Tail Rotor-
The 280FX's tail rotor is nearly unstoppable and had been tested in winds from any direction up to 35 knots, from experience we can confirm the ship will handle significantly more than that. The position of the rear horizontal and vertical stabilizers relatively to the tail rotor means there's no obstruction of the incoming air required to produce thrust. This translates into the ability for pilots to safely handle considerable cross and tail winds situations when required.