June AAIB - wrong deck landing
Couple of years ago at the end of a long day just heading out for our last flight- phone call
"We need you after you land on ABC to go to YYY unmanned platform to pick up a day crew the rest of your sched remains the same"
New flight log made, rig plate for YYY consulted.
Phoned sched ..co capt standing beside me .."Ok we are now doing ABC then YYY then DDD thence to BBB onwards to GTV then to base ..confirm?"
Sched "yes"
Off we thrundled to ABC ...while on the deck of ABC we got clearance to land on YYY which was only 2 miles away..took off and landed on YYY..flight attendant got out and came back to say nobody on the platform.
Called the infield platform that had given us landing clearance on YYY and said nobody was on the platform.
Reply after a long pause " Oh that crew is on platform YYY-2a"
Did a quick calc and we had the time and fuel to pick them up.
Did so.
The ponderous saftey system ground into motion ..incident entered...endless meetings..huge amounts of electrons used on emails..bow tie diagrams promulgated.. more info required ..this goes on for 2 months
Guess who got zapped for a wrong deck landing?
"We need you after you land on ABC to go to YYY unmanned platform to pick up a day crew the rest of your sched remains the same"
New flight log made, rig plate for YYY consulted.
Phoned sched ..co capt standing beside me .."Ok we are now doing ABC then YYY then DDD thence to BBB onwards to GTV then to base ..confirm?"
Sched "yes"
Off we thrundled to ABC ...while on the deck of ABC we got clearance to land on YYY which was only 2 miles away..took off and landed on YYY..flight attendant got out and came back to say nobody on the platform.
Called the infield platform that had given us landing clearance on YYY and said nobody was on the platform.
Reply after a long pause " Oh that crew is on platform YYY-2a"
Did a quick calc and we had the time and fuel to pick them up.
Did so.
The ponderous saftey system ground into motion ..incident entered...endless meetings..huge amounts of electrons used on emails..bow tie diagrams promulgated.. more info required ..this goes on for 2 months
Guess who got zapped for a wrong deck landing?
Last edited by albatross; 10th Jun 2016 at 22:37.
Any Bristow Hands never land on the wrong UBIT while flying out of Eket?
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Ban Don Ling
Posts: 244
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
WDL’s have been pondered and pontificated for years with little progress.
Customer areas for confusion if trying to avoid WDL’s:
1. Different name / abbreviation / marking by oil / service company on helideck / structure / vessel
2. Failure to follow CAP 437 guidelines for mounting / displaying / cleaning / illuminating markings
3. Limitation of transposing name into operator / oil company flight planning system / GPS / FMS
4. Last minute changes – not permitted for production ops; safeguards for exploration ops
Helicopter operator best practices:
1. Maintain an up to date rig plate library available to crew / dispatch for flight planning / in-flight
2. Initial and annual helideck inspection to identify shortcomings, put mitigations in place
3. Dispatch staff fully trained to be aware of hazards and pitfalls during planning
4. Do not allow customer / time pressure during planning stage, especially changes (D and T values)
5. Refuse to depart without latest Platform Status Report including position (1 hour max) / PRH
6. Extra fuel for mobile / vessel on move
Flight operations and HLO best practices:
1. Crew to check PSR position of all mobiles against FMS / GPS
2. Crew to check next waypoint course displayed against planning document prior to lift-off
3. Tune in beacon of next landing if available, consult rig library as required to confirm details
4. Contact radio operator approx 30 nms out for wx / admin traffic (standard calls / response)
5. Send radio operator position call at 10 nms
6. On finals 1.5 nms call HLO for deck availability / green / clear - giving direction of approach (you may also wish to "Direct To" to confirm on nav equipment?)
7. HLO confirms by radio aircraft in sight and helideck green thus confirming helideck clear / OFS not infringed / cranes on cradles, unmanned / fire crew in place
8. Crew to BOTH identify the helideck / vessel name before committal point
Nice to haves:
1. Understanding from all parties that if above is not followed – WDL’s are inevitable!
2. Red cross on deck if not available – lights difficult by day, plates?
3. DGPS / other installation identifier
Customer areas for confusion if trying to avoid WDL’s:
1. Different name / abbreviation / marking by oil / service company on helideck / structure / vessel
2. Failure to follow CAP 437 guidelines for mounting / displaying / cleaning / illuminating markings
3. Limitation of transposing name into operator / oil company flight planning system / GPS / FMS
4. Last minute changes – not permitted for production ops; safeguards for exploration ops
Helicopter operator best practices:
1. Maintain an up to date rig plate library available to crew / dispatch for flight planning / in-flight
2. Initial and annual helideck inspection to identify shortcomings, put mitigations in place
3. Dispatch staff fully trained to be aware of hazards and pitfalls during planning
4. Do not allow customer / time pressure during planning stage, especially changes (D and T values)
5. Refuse to depart without latest Platform Status Report including position (1 hour max) / PRH
6. Extra fuel for mobile / vessel on move
Flight operations and HLO best practices:
1. Crew to check PSR position of all mobiles against FMS / GPS
2. Crew to check next waypoint course displayed against planning document prior to lift-off
3. Tune in beacon of next landing if available, consult rig library as required to confirm details
4. Contact radio operator approx 30 nms out for wx / admin traffic (standard calls / response)
5. Send radio operator position call at 10 nms
6. On finals 1.5 nms call HLO for deck availability / green / clear - giving direction of approach (you may also wish to "Direct To" to confirm on nav equipment?)
7. HLO confirms by radio aircraft in sight and helideck green thus confirming helideck clear / OFS not infringed / cranes on cradles, unmanned / fire crew in place
8. Crew to BOTH identify the helideck / vessel name before committal point
Nice to haves:
1. Understanding from all parties that if above is not followed – WDL’s are inevitable!
2. Red cross on deck if not available – lights difficult by day, plates?
3. DGPS / other installation identifier
