TC,
I agree with all your points as to blades hitting the next wave etc. My point is giving the pilot all the relevant info
before he/she gets airborne.
Steep waves will increase the possibility of the blades hitting the next wave, but lets assume a minor miracle has taken place and the rotors have been stopped. It seems that we offshore pilots only concern ourselves with the area immediately round an installation (500m in the UK PFEER regs). But we spend the majority of the time airborne over the open sea en-route to and from. The data now available from direct live real-time readings and satellite observations means we can now have a more than reasonably accurate assessment of the sea states en-route.
After the two ditchings this year in the North Sea, shouldn't we now have a look at getting better data for decision making. What would have happened if REDK and/or CHCN had their problem when the sea states were around the 5m mark? Or higher? UK Oil and Gas are happy for offshore flights to operate up to the 'limit' of the DACON scoop, which they believe to be around 7m, which just happens to be at least 1m in excess of the 'demonstrated limit' of our floation gear!
Any clearer?
bondu
