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Old 14th Mar 2015, 20:33
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hoistop
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Europe
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HEC

There are many operators in europe and Americas doing short haul or long line Human external Cargo ops. Hovewer, in EASA land, you practically cannot do it with single engined helicopter anymore, if operation falls under civil regulations (EU 965/2012), as there are severe limitations with Class 3 (single engine) operations. SAR operations (often done by police etc.) are exempt from this regulations.
In Switzerland, only Air Zermatt and Air Glaciers are performing this regularly, (and have loads of experience, as their pilots do a lot of external cargo most of the time, HEC is more a "side business") REGA, the largest rescue/HEMS operator in Switzerland mostly uses hoist - even in combination with extending 90meter long hoist cable with fixed rope to reach victims in high vertical cliffs, when necesarry.
The most experienced operator in EU is probably OAMTC, Austrian HEMS provider. Swiss guys might contest that! (they are not in EU, but technically, are in EASA land)
Honestly, I would steer clear from single engine HEC ops as a day-to-day business, as European safety standards and common practices have risen beyond that (with a few justified exceptions). Also, consider that pilots need much more training and experience for this than doing it with a hoist. If Switzerland will "sell" their national (FOCA) requirements for fixed rope HEC to EASA, it will be practically impossible to train a pilot for fixed rope HEC without considerable previous experience with external cargo operations.
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