Night Rig Landing
 

Just posing the question as to how you might handle landing on a rig at night with a bunch of technicians who are to repair the platforms electrics which have failed completely. An added complexity is that the particular rig is one where six other rigs and a sub sea feed through.

Are you asking about landing on a platform or a 'rig'? A rig is a drilling set-up, which can be free-floating, towed or stationary, in place over a well.
Platforms, of whatever type: production; pipeline or bunkhouse are pretty easy to land on. Just avoid any obstacle above the deck surface. High recon, low recon on the approach I always fly a steep approach to a point sufficiently high to break away or do the slow, slow, slow vertical descent to touchdown. Fly the path your searchlight defines.

If you're asking about an drilling rig in position to service the well, the same procedure except I might have to do an into the wind (more or less) point in space aside the pad and terminate, in a slow, slow, slow vertical/sliding descent to touchdown.

Same for a rig in tow, except the point in space is moving at a couple knots which affects the speed of the final point in space.

And be really really sure the crane is locked in place, unoccupied, away from the approach and landing.

P.S. Check the flare boom isn't venting over your approach or pad.

Take them during the day. :ok:

Use NVGs… on a nice starry or moonlit night… OR fly during the day! 👍😃

Devil, I'm talking production platform, in our neck of the woods we also call them rigs, as in "oil rigs". As for take them during the day, I think the folk on board might have something to say about the loss of safety facilities electricity provides.

Still not sure why you can’t take them during the day?

If it's a total electrical failure including lights on the deck...

Take them by day unless you've got NVG (and associated training and SOPs)

It's quite simply not worth your life.

Night approach to an unlit platform. Not a good idea. Read the report about the training flight which ended up turning through 540 degrees not all that long ago. Well, you could if only it was in the public domain.

But I‘m sure a litany of obvious gotchas are well known to you Megan.

212man, have an input?

I'm not a Helicopter type, just an ex-Oil Rig Turbine Maintenance Team Leader and regular passenger. A dead Rig or Production Platform would come under the Safety Rules which would prohibit such activities unless it was a Life or death emergency.

Risk Assessments or procedures already in place would aim for ALARP - As Low as Reasonably Practicable. So Night Landing - really nessassary ?

If it was totally dead electrically, then the whole of the production systems should have blown down to ambient pressure - this would be automatically done. The big issue would be if there is cold flaring which could be ignited by the Helicopter engines.

The whole of the go/no go would be controlled and allowed by the on shore management team, and it wouldn't be a quick decision either. The loss of a big asset and the resulting production could be a big hit for a countries well being.

At the end of the day everyone would be responsible to Government or international safety organisations.

on my phone so limited patience for typing!

If the situation is not serious enough to down man then it can’t be serious enough to need repairs at night, I would have thought.

if it really does require night flying, it can’t be considered Commercial Air Transport/Public Transport, as landing on an unlit deck with (presumably) no functional fire fighting system is outside that scope. So, would need government agency aircraft using NVG probably.

I’m reminded of the G-JSAR accident where the decision to fly at night, in a non-standard operating manner, came under a lot of scrutiny.

https://www.skybrary.aero/bookshelf/books/2653.pdf

The accident itself isn’t relevant, but the decision making is discussed in section 5.

I think a experienced rear crew would be a must.

Boat transfer?

So the lack of safety facilities electricity provides somehow become less risky at night? Please explain.

Road flares. Kerosene lamps. Rags dipped in oil and set alight.

A really, really accurate GPS.

Night vision goggles?

Every single flashlight you can possibly find, even the dim lights from a cell phone.

Sounds like a lead in to a TV show, but drop flashlights or beacons with a little parachute from a safe height onto the deck of the rig with instructions to set them off in order to let you land safely. Drop plenty, as some may miss the deck.

Or, don’t do it at night.

Not an offshore pilot but recently retired leader of several offshore asset management teams I can tell you the risk assessment to intervene on a dead platform at night would take all of 5 seconds and the outcome would be "We are not going at night but be ready to lift at 1st light when its safe to approach the platform".

If your client is asking you to do otherwise I would tell them to think again!

BG

"Road flares. Kerosene lamps. Rags dipped in oil and set alight."

Not items that are encouraged on offshore oil & gas installations.. at least in the N Sea. Boat transfers are really dangerous and are very much frowned upon in any where were there is any sea at all

Bladegrabber is correct - unless it is a matter of life & death it can wait 12 hours

Any rig/platform would have a completely independent emergency lighting/safety system. You wouldn't even get insurance on it if it didn't.

Go in daytime; no other option.