Helicopters

Rotary Wing / Rotorcraft

Aerossurance Will be Attending Heli-Expo 2015

Helicopters, News

Aerossurance Will be Attending Heli-Expo 2015 Aerossurance will be attending the helicopter industry’s biggest annual gathering, Heli-Expo, in Orlando, Florida in early March. Heli-Expo is organised annually by the Helicopter Association International (HAI) and is expected to attract in the region of 20,000 attendees. We will be in Orlando 28 February – 7 March, participating in several industry […]

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Turbomeca Arrano Sole Engine for Airbus Helicopters X4 (H160)

Design & Certification, Helicopters, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy

Turbomeca Arrano Sole Engine for Airbus Helicopters X4 (H160) Airbus Helicopters have announced they have selected the Turbomeca (Safran) Arrano as the sole engine for their new medium helicopter the X4 (UPDATE: to be named the H160).  Airbus has also dropped the option of the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW210E (a development of the PW210S in the

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Radar for Wave Height Measurement

Helicopters, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Safety Management, Survivability / Ditching

Radar for Wave Height Measurement The EnRoute Wave Height Measurement Problem In 2011 Canadian Transportation Safety Board (TSB) issued their investigation into a S-92A accident offshore Canada in 2009, in which 17 people died and one passenger, Robert Decker, survived.  Additionally this accident was subject to a public inquiry.  The Hon Robert Wells QC’s Offshore Helicopter Safety Inquiry (OSHSI)

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Aerossurance Joins HeliOffshore

Helicopters, News, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Safety Culture, Safety Management

Aerossurance Joins HeliOffshore   HeliOffshore is a global safety-focused organisation formed by major offshore helicopter operators. They state: We enable helicopter operators to develop, share and apply best practices, create and use advanced technology, and advocate for harmonised flight standards. HeliOffshore is dedicated to achieving the highest levels of safety, in the air and on the

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Sea State Forecasting – CHIRP

Helicopters, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Safety Management, Survivability / Ditching

Sea State Forecasting – CHIRP The CHIRP Charitable Trust, who run the UK’s Confidential Human Factors Incident Reporting Programme, today published Air Transport FEEDBACK Issue 113. This included discussion of a report on sea state forecasting in the North Sea. The original report submitted to CHIRP was: Post CAP 1145 [Safety Review Of Offshore Public Transport

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NTSB Report on 2013 S-76A++ Tail Rotor Blade Loss

Accidents & Incidents, Helicopters, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Safety Management

NTSB Report on 2013 S-76A++ Tail Rotor Blade Loss The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has reported on a fatal Sikorsky S-76A++ accident to a Gulf Of Mexico offshore helicopter during a post-maintenance check flight of avionics systems.  The accident occurred on 15 March 2013 to N574EH, operated by Era Helicopters LLC.  The pilot and

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UK CAA CAP1145: Update on North Sea Helicopter Safety (CAP1243)

Accidents & Incidents, Design & Certification, Helicopters, Human Factors / Performance, HUMS / VHM / UMS / IVHM, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Regulation, Safety Culture, Safety Management, Survivability / Ditching

UK CAA CAP1145: Update on North Sea Helicopter Safety (CAP1243) Not long after the fatal loss of Eurocopter AS332L2 G-WNSB 1.5 nm west of Sumburgh Airport, Shetland Islands on 23 August 2013 with 4 fatalities (AAIB Special Bulletin), the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) launched an rapid review on offshore helicopter safety. CAP1145 This CAA Review resulted in the CAP1145 report

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The ‘Automation Problem’ – A Discussion

Accidents & Incidents, Design & Certification, Fixed Wing, Helicopters, Human Factors / Performance, Regulation, Safety Management

The ‘Automation Problem’ – A Discussion Automation, or perhaps more correctly the use of automated systems, has become a hot topic in the aviation industry, particularly since the issue of the accident report into the loss of AF447 (issued in July 2012).  We review one analysis of the underlying cause and discuss a warning about an emerging

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Aerossurance Joins the British Helicopter Association

Helicopters, News

Aerossurance Joins the British Helicopter Association Aerossurance is pleased to have been accepted as a member of the British Helicopter Association by the BHA Council. The BHA is the non-profit trade organisation that represents the UK’s civil helicopter industry to the Civil Aviation Authority, government departments and international bodies. Its main aim it is to: …promote

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Dramatic Malaysian S-76C 2013 Ditching Video

Accidents & Incidents, Crises / Emergency Response / SAR, Helicopters, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Safety Management, Survivability / Ditching

Dramatic Malaysian S-76C 2013 Ditching Video Dramatic passenger-shot video footage of a helicopter ditching and rescue off Malaysia has emerged: The Sikorsky S-76C 9M-STE (MSN 760398) of MHS Aviation, chartered by Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas, was on approach to a 3D seismic ship in the South China Sea on 12 December 2013. The 105m long, 9800GRT vessel

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New Helicopter Survival Suits in Canada

Crises / Emergency Response / SAR, Helicopters, Logistics, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Safety Management, Survivability / Ditching

New Helicopter Survival Suits in Canada Survitec Group design engineer Alice Cannon presented to SAFE Europe symposium in Bristol in March 2014 on the company’s development of a new helicopter passenger survival suit for use in Canada.  In November 2014, Gaelle Halliday of oil company Husky Energy presented more information at the first safety conference of the Canada-Newfoundland

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When Habits Kill – Canadian MD500 Accident

Accidents & Incidents, Helicopters, Human Factors / Performance, Maintenance / Continuing Airworthiness / CAMOs, Mining / Resource Sector, Safety Management

When Habits Kill – Canadian Hughes 500 Helicopter Accident Establishing habits can be effective ways to achieve safe outcomes, by sub-consciously completing routine actions.  Examples include automatically fastening harnesses and seat belts or routinely scanning for other traffic. However, sometimes habits can be dangerous, for example when circumstances or equipment change. Just such a case occurred in Canada to

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EASA & FAA HUMS / VHM Developments

Accidents & Incidents, Design & Certification, Helicopters, HUMS / VHM / UMS / IVHM, Maintenance / Continuing Airworthiness / CAMOs, Military / Defence, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Regulation, Safety Management

EASA & FAA HUMS / VHM Developments More information has emerged on European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Health and Usage Monitoring Systems (HUMS) / Vibration Health Monitoring (VHM) initiatives. EASA HUMS / VHM Research There was more detail on HUMS/VHM research that Aerossurance has previously reported on when Cranfield University’s Matt Greaves presented the

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The Power of Safety Leadership: Paul O’Neill, Safety and Alcoa

Business Aviation, Fixed Wing, Helicopters, Human Factors / Performance, Military / Defence, Mining / Resource Sector, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Safety Culture, Safety Management

The Power of Safety Leadership: Paul O’Neill, Safety and Alcoa In his book The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do, and How to Change, Charles Duhigg, described the reaction to Paul O’Neill’s first presentation as the new CEO of the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) in 1987: A few minutes before noon, the new

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NTSB Report on Bizarre 2012 US S-76B Ditching

Accidents & Incidents, Airfields / Heliports / Helidecks, Business Aviation, Helicopters, Human Factors / Performance, Maintenance / Continuing Airworthiness / CAMOs, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Safety Culture, Safety Management, Survivability / Ditching

An overweight helicopter, flown with a known defect, ditched during a poorly executed approach to a GOM drilling rig, then water taxying was attempted…

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EC175 / H175 Enters Service with NHV

Design & Certification, Helicopters, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy

EC175 (now H175) Enters Service with NHV Following the handover of the first two 7.5t, 16 passenger Airbus Helicopters EC175s to Belgian operator NHV on 11 December 2014, the type entered service just days later on contract to German oil and gas company Wintershall.  The aircraft are on the Dutch register and based at Den Helder in the Netherlands (the

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Bell 525 Fly-By-Wire Update

Design & Certification, Helicopters, Human Factors / Performance, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Safety Management

Bell 525 Fly-By-Wire Update Bell Helicopter gave an update this month on the Fly-By-Wire (FBW) system being developed for their new super-medium helicopter, the 525 Relentless, at the 8th Rotorcraft Symposium in Cologne.  This event was organised by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The paper by Mike Bothwell and Awais Razais is downloadable as part of a large zip file for the whole symposium

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Further Category A EBS Approved

Design & Certification, Helicopters, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Safety Management, Survivability / Ditching

Further Category A EBS Approved More Category A Compressed Air – Emergency Breather System (CA-EBS) options are now approved against the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) standard in CAP1034.  These approvals are under the accessory approval requirements of British Civil Airworthiness Requirements (BCAR) A4-8. Category A EBS was a recommendation from the CAA Review, which resulted in

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Helicopter Ditching – EASA Rule Making Task RMT.0120 Update (NPA 2016-01)

Accidents & Incidents, Helicopters, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Resilience, Safety Management, Survivability / Ditching

Helicopter Ditching – EASA Rule Making Task RMT.0120 Update (NPA 2016-01 Helicopter ditching and water impact occupant survivability) The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) gave an update at their 8th Rotorcraft Symposium on the rule making task (RMT.0120) looking at helicopter ditching requirements.  The paper is downloadable as part of a large zip file for the whole symposium

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70 Years of the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation

Airfields / Heliports / Helidecks, Business Aviation, Design & Certification, Fixed Wing, Helicopters, Maintenance / Continuing Airworthiness / CAMOs, Regulation, Safety Management

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has issued the following press release: In 1944, delegates from 54 nations gathered in the Grand Ballroom of the Stevens Hotel in Chicago at the invitation of the United States of America.   At this event, the participants concluded and signed the Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known

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Elbit Enhanced Flight Vision Systems

Design & Certification, Fixed Wing, Helicopters, Human Factors / Performance, Safety Management

Elbit Enhanced Flight Vision Systems (EFVS) for Helicopters and regional Aircraft Elbit Systems presented to the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) 8th Rotorcraft Symposium today.  The paper is downloadable and a prior video is available to view: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XMm-AAdo5zc UPDATE 5 July 2016: Certification of the SkyLens system on the ATR turboprop family is expected in 2017: EASA

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James Reason’s 12 Principles of Error Management

Air Traffic Management / Airspace, Airfields / Heliports / Helidecks, Business Aviation, Crises / Emergency Response / SAR, Design & Certification, Fixed Wing, Helicopters, Human Factors / Performance, Logistics, Maintenance / Continuing Airworthiness / CAMOs, Military / Defence, Mining / Resource Sector, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Resilience, Safety Culture, Safety Management

James Reason’s 12 Principles of Error Management James Reason, Professor Emeritus, University of Manchester, set out 12 systemic human factors centric principles of error management in his book Managing Maintenance Error: A Practical Guide (co-written with Alan Hobbs and published in 2003). These principles are valid beyond aviation maintenance and are well worth re-visiting: Human error is both universal

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Operational Suitability Data

Design & Certification, Fixed Wing, Helicopters, Regulation, Safety Management

Operational Suitability Data The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has published a useful summary on the concept of OSD: The principle of Operational Suitability Data (OSD) is that the aircraft manufacturers are required to establish certain data that is considered important for safe operation of the aircraft type. This data will be approved by the

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UK OHSAG Oct 2014 Minutes

Accidents & Incidents, Airfields / Heliports / Helidecks, Crises / Emergency Response / SAR, Design & Certification, Helicopters, Human Factors / Performance, HUMS / VHM / UMS / IVHM, Logistics, Maintenance / Continuing Airworthiness / CAMOs, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Resilience, Safety Management, Survivability / Ditching

UK Offshore Helicopter Safety Action Group (OHSAG) Oct 2014 Minutes The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has published the minutes of the latest, 28 Oct 2014, meeting of the Offshore Helicopter Safety Action Group (OHSAG). The OHSAG was formed as a result of the ‘Civil Aviation Authority Safety Review of Offshore Public Transport Helicopter Operations in Support of

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