Originally Posted by helofan
In Australia the pilot must wear a chute as well
Are you quoting regs, or a local rule? I've only come across that with stiff wing operations, never with helicopters.
There have been threads on this before, and the issue that I have with jumping from helicopters is: never,
never allow them to go from the same side as the pilot. Doors off on the non pilot side only, then there is less chance of loading to out of tolerance lateral CG.
One of my 206's was turned over by the left side pair of jumpers pushing off, while the right side pair stayed on the skids. The pilot elected to keep the roll going, and had no idea when the right side pair departed, nor how they avoided the rotors. The pre jump briefing had stressed all the correct techniques, especially to depart equally (one per side, at the same time) and to step off, not to jump nor to push away from the airframe. Waste of bl**dy time, that was!
Immediate grounding and mast inspection, but a lesson learned. Ops Manual amended to prohibit removal of the pilot side doors during parachute operations
