Offshore HTZ's

[dmbueno]

Hi All,

I hold a PPL(A) and would like to take a friend of mine around the oil platforms in the North Sea. Probably around the Hewett and Leman Bank HTZ's. He's very involved in the Oil & Gas business and would love a trip like that.

But having never done such a flight I have a few questions and hopefully someone here can help

- Does HTZ stand for Helicopter Traffic Zone, as I suspect?
- Are the rules for HTZ's the same as for ATZ's? Can a fixed wing aircraft fly into one of them?
- Is it ok to overfly the HTZ above the 2000ft indicated on the chart?
- What are the least busy days/times in terms of traffic?
- Whom should I be talking when/if I fly there?
- Is this at all possible?

Thanks guys

[Satcop]

The simple answer is yes it is possible.

You should work Anglia Radar, full details of the Southern North Sea procedures can be found in the UK AIP section ENR 1-15-1. Avoid the early morning and evening rush hours.

[Fly-by-Wife]

Don't neglect the survival aspects - this would be a flight over (bloody cold) water, so immersion suits should be worn and a life raft carried.

FBW

[Droopystop]

Yes it is possible, although HTZ hold (if I remember rightly) the same or at least similar meaning to ATZ. Strict PPR and keep clear unless you do have PPR. I doubt you would get much luck getting clearance to enter one though (security risk and so on).

That part of the southern North Sea is littered with platforms and helicopters shuttle between platforms as well as routing direct from the beach. Anglia Radar look after the higher level transit stuff but in field collision avoidance is down to the helicopter pilots keeping a mental picture of who is where doing what. The last thing they need is someone wondering around not quite knowing what is going on. I don't mean to offend - it takes us a while to get the hang of it. I can't really encourage you to do this despite it being a fascinating world out there.

Try two things, speak to Anglia Radar on the phone sometime for their view (don't be put off by the Aberdeen phone number, they control the whole of the North Sea from Aberdeen) and try putting this request on the Rotorheads forum. I can't promise they will be gentle but there will be someone on there who knows more about flying in that part of the world than I do.

[dmbueno]

Thank you for the answers. This would obviously be a trickier trip than the regular x-country given that thing are slightly 'different' out there. I am not yet sure I will go ahead with it, but this is part of the pre-flight work.

and you're right about posting this in the rotorheads section. That was my original intention but the moderators put it here