Humm,
Is it really day dreaming....or is it provoking some discussion and thinking?
Yes....the North Sea decks are what they are....and the aircraft are what they are.....and the Pilots are what they are....and the Engineers are what they are....and the Safety Standards are what they are.....and on and on.
The question is again "Why?".
The answer lies in a multitude of answers based upon uncountable factors and issues resulting in Decisions that have brought us to where we are.
If we are to have this wide open, no holds barred, review of the North Sea Offshore Helicopter Industry we have all participated in.....then we need to open the box....climb outside the confines it puts upon us....and really "THINK" through all this.
Are we building Helicopters to fit the Decks or are we building Decks to fit the helicopters? Do we continue to place decks on Rigs and Platforms out of habit as an evolution or have the Engineers decided to build the Helideck then build the Platform/Rig to best accomodate the Helideck?
Are we building the right kind of decks, do we have the right kind of lighting, can we not devise some effective sort of Glide Slope lighting system or other kind of Glide Slope system?
Have we formulated a Low Altitude Enroute IFR structure that works for Helicopters? Do we have a method to track Helicopters effectively in a non-Radar environment? Is our methods of controlling offshore helicopter traffic truly innovative or just an evolution from things past?
How many questions can you think to ask....that seeks to fashion the future of Offshore Helicopter Aviation and not just describe the existing system?
That is the kind of review that needs doing.
In order to solve problems, one has to accept there is a problem, then define the problem, determine the significance of the problem, then assess priorities for each of the defined problems and after that....formulate a solution, implement the solution, then assess progress and correctness of the solution.
This thread has shown there to be a lot of immediate, fairly easy solved problems and issues. There are some not so simple and not so easily solved issues as well.
Hopefully, whatever review does take place is done with the intent to look forward as well backwards.
Just because we do something a particular way right now....does not mean it is the best way. Not everything we do today is bad but for sure we need to look at everything if we are to see real improvement in the system as a whole.
The system is that proverbial Chain.....if we ignore one link or fail to ensure the fitness of that one link....the Chain continues to fail with the results we see coming from all these accidents and crashes.