Two issues here:
(a) Landings at hospitals, and,
(b) Saving life in helos.
(a) The CAA are beginning to show an interest in this because of the ever increasing demands from Europe under JAR. Annex 14 to one of their regs shows that the operator must be able to fly a safe profile to the hospital helipad, should an engine fail (similarly on take off too).
Alternatively, the hospital should take on the burden and build a suitable site to cater for most if not all helos. Guess where the burden will end up - helo operators, because hospitals are not going to spend millions transforming/building landing sites.
Only the older a/c will suffer (105's, 355's etc.) New gen a/c can cope with the regs.
The deadline for this is forever slipping because most of the German helos are 105's! Current deadline: 2009 and counting.
This ruling is quite complicated and I have tried to simplify it somewhat.
Hospital landing sites has nothing whatsoever to do with the HSE!
(b) Saving life in a public transport helo.
A very VERY emotive subject.
It is very easy to take the moral high ground here and become the local hero while saving that little girl who is struggling in the icy cold river beneath the hovering chopper. Of course, anyone who has any conscience would think first and foremost about dangling the skid in the water and saving her.
BUT,
one has to consider the implications:
if the chopper went in, the girl would die and so to, the crew of the chopper. What is the advantage to that?????
One hopes that the helo/pilot will do its job and save the day, but if either fails, then you are looking at a manslaughter charge.
The CAA will always officially declare that they will prosecute if you operate beyond your clearance. They have to say that. What they do at the end of the day, is another matter.
We have discussed this until the cows have come home:
We would do everything to assist third parties to save the victim[Comms/illuminate scene/throw liferaft etc]. But if we ALL ONBOARD honestly thought the victim was about to die, we would do what we had to do
What that entails is between me, my maker and a very good lawyer
