Flying Near Flare Booms
As a preface, I fly in the Gulf of Mexico for one of the larger Operators and fly around flare booms daily. Some of the hazards have been mentioned above;
- degradation of engine performance and/or flame out due to reduced O2 from flare (super hot air and natural gas.
- potential engine overspeed and flame out due to flying in high concentrations of natural gas.
- potential poisoning from flying through hydrogen-sulfide flare (very bad stuff)
As far as the potential to hit one on approach/departure - it's possible, but unlikely. Most are at or below helideck level, however a few larger one do rise above the deck. Regarding the EC-120 who had the fatal accident recently, my personal opinion is that he had a mechanical malfunction on approach. The EC-120 have a history of flight control and hydraulic malfunctions that are very hard to recover from coming off/on oil platforms. The pilot lived on that platform and was very familiar with the obstacles.