Interesting facts - PSNI Helicopter

[whenever]

Skyhigh-Ulster,

Although I often look in on Pprune, I have until now never felt the need to put my 2 pence in. I am a Pilot with an ASU and when I first started my wife much like you was unable to understand how a 10 hour shift could be physically tiring while only flying for 3 hours or so.

The duty will start at 8am with a quick change in to flight gear a check of any notes left by the last pilot, then into the hangar to carry out the Check ‘A’ of the aircraft. This is followed by checking for contamination of the fuel both onboard the aircraft and in the bowser. Once complete the paper work in the Tech Log is filled out. Now it’s time to move onto a self brief of the weather and Notams. At the same time the Police Observers are carrying out self briefings on Logs since they were last on duty and looking into any pre-planned jobs that have come in. This is then followed by a full crew brief, me doing the aviation side of things and one of the Observers doing a tasking brief. By now you are an hour into the shift and you will note not a minute of flying.

Now is the time to get in a brew and possible a light bite to eat. We are now coiled springs waiting for the first calls of the day. I’ll give you an example day. On this day the first task came in around 10am when we went out to take photographs of a fatal accident. (These are carried out once the rescue services have departed and are to show an aerial view of the roads to help further investigations) The task lasted 30 minutes and on our return I topped up the aircraft before filling out the paperwork. I then resumed my coiled spring position. The Observers now had to edit and print off the photos which on a simple job like this is about 30-45 minutes of work. (0n some jobs it can run into hours in the edit room.)

It’s now around 11am and I have sneaked off for a quick visit to the loo for a number 2, however, not quick enough and a call comes in for a pursuit in progress. No need for more details but as quick as possible I’m out at the aircraft carrying out a fast start and when calling for clearance to lift, the Observers get a call to say the vehicle has been lost and to stand down. On the return to the office I resume the position while one of the Observers opens a log for the detail. Every job that comes through to the unit has to be logged. Notice, another 15-20 minutes not showing any flying time.

Over the next couple of hours a number of requests come in for jobs such as missing persons, persons made off from burglary etc. On each occasion the Observers have to vet the calls to ensure that enough has been done on the ground to ensure that aircraft hours are not wasted. A log is established every time.

I’ll not go on as it is obvious that although only 30 minutes flying has taken place in the first 4 hours very little time has been spent idle. The point is.......you can not look at the flying time as a comparison of total working time. Just like a lorry driver who may drive 3 hours a day yet spend hours loading and unloading.

One final point for you, Alpha 5 is a charity expecting to start a dedicated Air Ambulance service in a year’s time. Starting with an aircraft based Enniskillen way, followed by a further aircraft possible in the Newtownards area.

Ireland Air Ambulance | Home



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