Based on Reason’s human error model (1990), in which active and latent failures are characterized as inadequacies that might lie dormant within a system for a long time and are only triggered when combined with other factors to breach the system’s defenses. According to previous studies of helicopter mishaps, more than 90 percent of the accidents were caused by human errors. The Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) is developed as an analytical framework for investigation of the role of human factors in aviation accidents [26]. HFACS is applied in this research and the data are comprised of the narrative descriptions of accidents occurring in Taiwan. The complete data set is comprised of both civil and military aviation accidents from year 1970 to 2010.

　　From the results of HFACS analysis, it is suggested that there were cross-cultural differences at the level of “organizational influence” regarding the prevalence of the underlying human factors that contribute to accidents, and have acceptable inter-rater reliability at the level of individual categories. The results might help helicopter authorities with better information for improving helicopter safety.