AMC1 SPA.HOFO.115 Use of offshore locations

CAA ORS9 Decision No. 1

GENERAL

(a) The operations manual (OM) relating to the specific usage of offshore helicopter landing areas (Part C for CAT operators) should contain, or make reference to, a directory of helidecks (helideck directory (HD)) intended to be used by the operator. The directory should provide details of helideck limitations and a pictorial representation of each offshore location and its helicopter landing area, recording all necessary information of a permanent nature and using a standardised template. The HD entries should show, and be amended as necessary, the most recent status of each helideck concerning non-compliance with applicable national standards, limitations, warnings, cautions or other comments of operational importance. An example of a typical template is shown in Figure 1 of GM1 SPA.HOFO.115 below.

(b) In order to ensure that the safety of flights is not compromised, the operator should obtain relevant information and details in order to compile the HD, as well as the pictorial representation from the owner/operator of the offshore helicopter landing area.

(c) If more than one name for the offshore location exists, the common name painted on the surface of the landing area should be listed, but other names should also be included in the HD (e.g. radio call sign, if different). After renaming an offshore location, the old name should also be included in the HD for the following 6 months.

(d) Any limitations associated with an offshore location should be included in the HD. With complex installation arrangements, including combinations of installations/vessels (e.g. combined operations), a separate listing in the HD, accompanied by diagrams/pictures, where necessary, may be required.

(e) Each offshore helicopter landing area should be inspected and assessed based on limitations, warnings, instructions and restrictions, in order to determine its acceptability with respect to the following as a minimum:

(1) The physical characteristics of the landing area, including size, load-bearing capability and the appropriate ‘D’ and ‘t’ values.

Note 1: ‘D’ is the overall length of the helicopter from the most forward position of the main rotor tip to the most rearward position of the tail rotor tip plane path, or rearmost extension of the fuselage in the case of ‘Fenestron’ or ‘NOTAR’ tails.

Note 2: ‘t’ is the maximum allowable mass in tonnes.

(2) The preservation of obstacle-protected surfaces (an essential safeguard for all flights). These surfaces are:

(i) the minimum 210° obstacle-free surface (OFS) above helideck level;

(ii) the 150° limited-obstacle surface (LOS) above helideck level; and

(iii) the minimum 180° falling ‘5:1’ gradient with respect to significant obstacles below helideck level.

If these sectors/surfaces are infringed, even on a temporary basis, and/or if an adjacent installation or vessel infringes the obstacle-protected surfaces related to the landing area, an assessment should be made to determine whether it is necessary to impose operating limitations and/or restrictions to mitigate any non-compliance with the criteria.

(3) Marking and lighting:

(i) for operations at night, adequate illumination of the perimeter of the landing area, using perimeter lighting that meets national requirements;

(ii) for operations at night, adequate illumination of the location of the touchdown marking by use of a lit touchdown/positioning marking and lit helideck identification marking that meet national requirements;

(iii) status lights (for night and day operations, indicating the status of the helicopter landing area, e.g. a red flashing light indicates ‘landing area unsafe: do not land’) meeting national requirements;

(iv) dominant-obstacle paint schemes and lighting;

(v) condition of helideck markings; and

(vi) adequacy of general installation and structure lighting.

Any limitations with respect to non-compliance of lighting arrangements may require the HD to be annotated ‘daylight only operations’.

(4) Deck surface:

(i) assessment of surface friction;

(ii) adequacy and condition of helideck net (where provided);

(iii) ‘fit for purpose’ drainage system;

(iv) deck edge safety netting or shelving;

(v) a system of tie-down points that is adequate for the range of helicopters in use; and

(vi) procedures to ensure that the surface is kept clean of all contaminants, e.g. bird guano, sea spray, snow and ice.

(5) Environment:

(i) foreign-object damage;

(ii) an assessment of physical turbulence generators, e.g. structure-induced turbulence due to clad derrick;

(iii) bird control measures;

(iv) air flow degradation due to gas turbine exhaust emissions (turbulence and thermal effects), flares (thermal effects) or cold gas vents (unburned flammable gas); and

(v) adjacent offshore installations may need to be included in the environmental assessment.

To assess for potential adverse environmental effects, as described in (ii), (iv) and (v) above, an offshore location should be subject to appropriate studies, e.g. wind tunnel testing and/or computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis.

(6) Rescue and firefighting:

(i) systems for delivery of firefighting media to the landing area, e.g. deck integrated firefighting system (DIFFS);

(ii) delivery of primary media types, assumed critical area, application rate and duration;

(iii) deliveries of complementary agent(s) and media types, capacity and discharge;

(iv) personal protective equipment (PPE); and

(v) rescue equipment and crash box/cabinet.

(7) Communication and navigation (Com/Nav):

(i) aeronautical radio(s);

(ii) radio-telephone (R/T) call sign to match the offshore location name with the side identification that should be simple and unique; and

(iii) radio log.

(8) Fuelling facilities:

in accordance with the relevant national guidance and legislation.

(9) Additional operational and handling equipment:

(i) windsock;

(ii) meteorological information, including wind, pressure, air temperature, and dew point temperature, and equipment recording and displaying mean wind (10-min wind) and gusts;

(iii) helideck motion recording and reporting system, where applicable;

(iv) passenger briefing system;

(v) chocks;

(vi) tie-down strops/ropes;

(vii) weighing scales;

(viii) a suitable power source for starting helicopters (e.g. ground power unit (GPU)), where applicable; and

(ix) equipment for clearing the landing area of snow, ice and other contaminants.

(10) Personnel:

trained helicopter-landing-area staff (e.g. helicopter landing officer/helicopter deck assistant and firefighters, etc.); persons required to assess local weather conditions or communicate with the helicopter by radio-telephony should be appropriately qualified.

(f) The HD entry for each offshore location should be completed and kept up to date, using the template and reflecting the information and details described in (e) above. The template should contain at least the following (GM1 SPA.HOFO.115 below is provided as an example):

(1) details:

(i) name of offshore location;

(ii) R/T call sign;

(iii) helicopter landing area identification marking;

(iv) side panel identification marking;

(v) landing area elevation;

(vi) maximum installation/vessel height;

(vii) helideck size and/or ‘D’ value;

(viii) type of offshore location:

(A) fixed, permanently manned installation;

(B) fixed, normally unattended installation;

(D) semi-submersible, mobile, offshore drilling unit:

(E) jack-up, mobile, offshore drilling unit:

(F) floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO);

(ix) name of owner/operator;

(x) geographical position, where appropriate;

(xi) Com/Nav frequencies and identification;

(xii) general drawing of the offshore location that shows the helicopter landing area with annotations indicating location of derrick, masts, cranes, flare stack, turbine and gas exhausts, side identification panels, windsock, etc.;

(xiii) plan view drawing, and chart orientation from the general drawing to show the above; the plan view should also show the 210-degree sector orientation in degrees true;

(xiv) type of fuelling:

(A) pressure and gravity;

(B) pressure only;

(D) none;

(xv) type and nature of firefighting equipment;

(xvi) availability of GPU;

(xvii) deck heading;

(xviii) ‘t’ value ;

(xix) status light system (Yes/No); and

(xx) revision publication date or number; and

(2) one or more diagrams/photographs, and any other suitable guidance to assist pilots.

(g) For offshore locations for which there is incomplete information, ‘restricted’ usage based on the information available may be considered by the operator, subject to risk assessment prior to the first helicopter visit. During subsequent operations, and before any restriction on usage is lifted, information should be gathered and the following should apply:

(1) pictorial (static) representation:

(i) template blanks (GM1 SPA.HOFO.115 is provided as an example) should be available to be filled in during flight preparation on the basis of the information given by the offshore location owner/operator and of flight crew observations;

(ii) where possible, suitably annotated photographs may be used until the HD entry and template have been completed;

(iii) until the HD entry and template have been completed, conservative operational restrictions (e.g. performance, routing, etc.) may be applied;

(iv) any previous inspection reports should be obtained and reviewed by the operator; and

(v) an inspection of the offshore helicopter landing area should be carried out to verify the content of the completed HD entry and template; once found suitable, the landing area may be considered authorised for use by the operator; and

(2) with reference to the above, the HD entry should contain at least the following:

(i) HD revision date or number;

(ii) generic list of helideck motion limitations;

(iii) name of offshore location;

(iv) helideck size and/or ‘D’ value and ‘t’ value; and

(v) limitations, warnings, instructions and restrictions.