Helimed Ops -a question

[DX Wombat]

I am asking this question out of sheer curiosity. I haven't even been in a helicopter let alone flown one so please bear with me. In many of the tv programmes about the air ambulances there is a dramatic will-there-be-enough-light-left-to-get-home item. The same applies to localised fog (will it lift?) and other weather conditions. Whilst I can see that searching at night for someone lost or injured in the remote upper Dales is not a good idea I am puzzled by the persistent reiterations that "It's against the law to fly after dark" "The helicopter can't fly through or above poor visibility" etc. Why? Do the pilots of these aircraft not have to have a minimum of a CPL, NQ and IR? If so, why is it, as alleged, illegal for them to fly in conditions for which they are qualified? Is it indeed illegal or simply a company policy which the tv bods choose to tell everyone it is illegal? There must surely be incidents which would benefit from the presence of the air ambulance and which are perfectly accessible but are unable to be helped by this law. I'm really puzzled especially as the Police do not seem to have any difficulty flying their helicopters at night. Please could someone enlighten me?

[HoweC614]

As far as I'm aware, its not illegal for these pilot to fly in such conditions. They are all trained and qualified to.

However Air Ambulances aren't permitted to operate at night as they do not land on designated landing sites. They will land as close to a scene as possible and at night any obstacles may go unseen, power lines for example.

Therefore they do not operate after hours of darkness. Often the contractors of the aircraft/pilots such as Bond etc will have agreed operating hours that the aircraft shouldn't work outside of, and also, being as the aircraft are paid for entirely from charity funds in most counties, operating them for 24 hours a day would require an even larger amount of funds raised.

[Thomas coupling]

Hi DX: Normally, HEMS after sunset (dark o clock) is not allowed because the operation they represent (ie: the a/c, the crew, the area etc) does not meet EU rules to keep it simple.
An example could be that they have to fly with 2 pilots, they have to have so much fuel, their area isnt suitable to fly in after dark......
Many of the "small" helicopters you may see (yellow or red ones with sharks fin tail) don't meet the EU criteria.
However, there are operations where they do meet all the criteria and can/do fly HEMS at night [Blackpool for example].
Occasionally, the CAA (civil aviation authority - controlling authority based at gatwick)under approval from the EU even allows exeptions to the rules by carefully assessing that individual operation where there aren't 2 pilots etc. Example: Wiltshire police/hems outfit (don't know if it is still going after the fallout of NPIA spending review?).

HEMS (helo emergency medical services) operates under purely european regulations, whereas a number of different operations, say police for example operate under the jurisdiction of CAA rules.

One could write a book on the subject and you have spotted a good anomally!

[DX Wombat]

Thank you very much for the replies. I had a feeling that it was something along those lines but not quite as complicated. :ok:

[JimL]

DX,

Nothing in the regulations (present and future) prevents HEMS night operations providing they are appropriately crewed and operated.

Jim

[Whirlygig]

As far as I'm aware, its not illegal for these pilot to fly in such conditions. They are all trained and qualified to.I don't think all Air Ambulance pilots have Instrument Ratings.

DX, the Instrument Rating for helicopters is a very different beast to the fixed wing IR and there is no IMC rating for helicopters.

Cheers

Whirls

[Floppy Link]

However Air Ambulances aren't permitted to operate at night....
Therefore they do not operate after hours of darkness....

Dammit - I've just wasted 2 nights of my life on air ambulance night shift then.

Don't confuse "Air Ambulance" the aircraft with "Air Ambulance" the category of task. In Scotland the Air Wing is a 24 hr operation, the helicopters doing air ambulance flights and emergency medical retrieval service ( EMRS (http://www.emrs.scot.nhs.uk/)) tasks 24/7, and HEMS tasks during the hours of daylight. All pilots are instrument rated.

For definitions
Air ambulance = transfers between known surveyed sites day and night (and the very occasional remote ad hoc site in daylight)
HEMS = emergency stuff like car crashes etc with an ad hoc landing site

However, there are operations where they do meet all the criteria and can/do fly HEMS at night [Blackpool for example]

Think you're mistaken on this one, Blackpool is one of ours, last time I did a block of shifts there it was daylight only. Jayteeto should be along in a bit to confirm.

Ref: Whirlygig's comment about IRs

Can't speak for other operators, but Bond has a policy of getting all EC135 pilots IR qualified, even if the pilot is based at a daylight only HEMS base. Not everybody has one yet, some guys close to retirement probably won't in the end, but we have the sim and the ability to train people up. Good policy IMHO.

[Thomas coupling]

Can you keep it simple for him, he isnt aware of JarOps 3.005D etc.
K.I.S.S.

[Whirlygig]

DX is a fixed wing aviatrix .... :ok: ;)

Cheers

Whirls

[QTG]

"DX, the Instrument Rating for helicopters is a very different beast to the fixed wing IR ..................................................."

Actually, its exactly the same

[Whirlygig]

Do IR(A)s have to be carried out in twin-engined aircraft and cost £45k?

Cheers

Whirls

[QTG]

The IR(A) test is exactly the same as the IR(H) test and allows exactly the same privileges. In other words, its exactly the same. Exactly.

[Whirlygig]

The end result may be the same but how you get there is quite different.

Cheers

Whirls

[Thud_and_Blunder]

As a near-retirement-age pilot who is going through the EASA exams prior to my bountiful employer training me up (inshallah...) for my IR, I can attest that the fixed-wing and rotary elements of IR groundschool have certain differences. No need for me to learn about some bloke called Mach whose number keeps coming up, for example.

[QTG]

As this is a thread about HEMS, I'll just say one more thing and retire gracefully, presuming Whirls as usual will wish to have the last word.

You can buy a Mickey Mouse single engine IR for helicopters if you wish (OK nobody offers the course in the UK any more), but like fixed wing, if you want it for anything meaningful, you'll have to upgrade to a twin. Unfortunately, helicopters are, pound for pound, much more expensive to operate than equivalent sized fixed wing, hence the cost difference.

I repeat, however, the training, test, and subsequent privileges are exactly the same.

[Turkeyslapper]

When are you guys going to join the rest of the civilised world and start using NVD :E

Doing it in Oz now quite regularly, Civil registered, NVD, Multi IFR machines doing SAR/EMS 24/7......IFR capable + NVD + qualified personnel = flexibility and safety :ok:

Tongue in cheek but seriously, is NVD on the horizon over there?

Turkey

[alouette3]

And ,dare I say,:O:across the pond, in the good ole US of A, HEMS is a 24/7 service. Some programs are VFR only,but are allowed to fly at night with or without NVG's. Some are SPIFR (Single Pilot IFR) with both the aircraft and pilot qualified and current to operate in an IFR environment. Almost all HEMS pilots are hired with an instrument rating but they are not required to keep it current. However, they need to demonstrate IFR flying capablilities during their semi annual check rides.
Much has been said about the good or bad about the US system so I will not go into that. Just thought I would throw in my 2c worth,for DX's edification.
Alt3.

[Thomas coupling]

It seems the EU who don't play by their own rules it has to be said, are very safety conscious. The "restrictions" pertaining to HEMS at night, I always found perplexing. The police always night fly and do hems/casevac at the same time (some units).
As for NVG's - police yes. HEMS - I think the reason they won't/can't is :
(a) because of night flying limitations and (b) because the english/welsh air ambulances are charity driven and a bunch of NVG's per flight costs serious bucks.
I too, hope that one day, the HEMS industry will get all its ducks in a row and emulate other successful states such as Oz and the US (without the associated crash stats thrown in!).
Meanwhile keep up the good work UKHEMS.:ok:

[JimL]

TC,

I repeat, there is no regulatory bar to Night HEMS.

Jim

[jayteeto]

Correct, we cannot night hems but like all other bases we can night air ambulance. That means cleared lit hls to cleared lit hls.

[skadi]

For example, in the netherlands there are 3 ? HEMSbases on 24/7 service with 1 pilot and 1 HCM, they use NVG.

skadi

[DX Wombat]

I seem to have opened a can of worms :uhoh: Thank you all for the very informative replies they make very interesting reading. :ok: