All kommersiell helikopterflyging, også HEMS, bør foregå med to sertifiserte flygere som har instrumentsertifikat. Statistikken i dag er alt for dårlig slik at såkalte upopulære remedier må tas i bruk. Dette er kostbart, men det kan spare mange liv. Dette er IFALPA Policy. (Red.)
Helicopter Pilot Suggestions Sought to Improve IFR
The Aerospatiale SA-341G Gazelle was the first
single engine helo to gain FAA certification for IFR flight in
1975.
The National EMS Pilots Association (NEMSPA) and U.S.
Helicopter Safety Team (USHST) are seeking suggestions on improving the use of
instrument flight rules (IFR) by helicopter pilots.
The organizations
announced a survey on Jan. 13 soliciting input from all helicopter pilots who
hold an instrument rating to conduct operations using the national IFR
system.
The survey will "obtain information and insight on helicopter IFR
issues and limitations facing today's helicopter pilots," the organizations
said.
"The information obtained from this survey will be presented to the
Federal Aviation Administration and other industry stakeholders in February 2019
at the USHST Infrastructure Summit held in Washington, D.C." on Feb. 7-8,
according to a statement from the groups. "This data will be used to assist the
industry in helping identify IFR deficiencies and prioritize IFR requirements
for the helicopter community as a whole."
Rex Alexander, the president of
the Five-Alpha LLC consultancy and the co-chair of the USHST Infrastructure
Working Group, said that the survey results will be used to furnish an
understanding of the primary roadblocks to pilots' use of IFR, what improvements
are needed, and how to prioritize them.
"In working directly with the FAA
through the USHST we were asked by the FAA, 'What are the major roadblocks
preventing helicopter pilots from flying IFR?'" Alexander wrote in an email.
"Given the political landscape in the FAA they shy away from conducting their
own surveys so the USHST teamed up with NEMSPA to make this one
happen."
"The FAA keeps asking the helicopter industry what it want and
needs in an IFR system, but the industry as a whole has been less than
responsive so we have decided to take the question directly to the folks that
fly in the system every day, i.e. the pilots," Alexander wrote. "We expect that
we will get feedback from pilots on things like weather reporting requirements,
currency requirements, ATC issues, proprietary instrument procedures and several
other areas."
For their part, Helicopter industry officials have sought
to facilitate FAA certification of single-engine rotorcraft for IFR. The
Vertical Flight Society has said that "there is broad consensus throughout the
rotorcraft industry and operational community that equipage and training for IFR
operations in single-engine helicopters has the potential to make a significant
impact on safety."
"AHS International and our partner associations
believe that the unacceptable number of lives lost due to inadvertent instrument
meteorological conditions (IMC) or controlled flight into terrain (CFIT)
accidents in single-engine helicopters that result from low-level flight to
avoid weather can be easily addressed if the FAA facilitates IFR certification
of single-engine helicopters through the new Safety Continuum policy," AHS has
said. "In addition, the expanded use of IFR operations has the potential to
improve the safety for Part 29 by encouraging the more ubiquitous use of IFR."
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