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Old 3rd Sep 2009, 12:50
  #10 (permalink)  
skiddriver
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: USA
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I'll try one more time. This isn't something that should be explained by the pilot as he conducts a maneuver, or even during the pre-takeoff brief. When a significant change is made in operations, one part of the management of change should be to explain the differences to the customers / passengers. The company who contracts for the helicopter service has this duty in the end. They can use the helicopter company to fill in the technical details.

How the message is delivered would vary from situation to situation, and how you embed it as a durable message and take into account short service employees takes some thought. However, having someone stewing in the back of the aircraft flight after flight wondering what the heck the guys up front are doing does no one any good, and if nothing else degrades the confidence the passengers should have in their pilots and the reputation of the helicopter company to boot. Which is why it would be a good idea for pilots and company management to at least think about this, and bring it up with the contracting company if they don't have the in-house expertise to think about it first.

Passengers are a captive audience at heliports. A short brief from the dispatcher and a few posters go a long way to engender understanding. I've heard that Gulf Helicopters is a good company though I have no firsthand experience with them. Are they being well served having their customers questioning the safety of their operation unanswered, particularly when the answer is that the maneuver being flown actually makes the operation safer?
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