Helicopter guidelines for land seismic & helirig operations - OGP

Helicopter guidelines for land seismic & helirig operations
9 Flight operations safety
9.1 General
9.1.1 A daily planning meeting must be held to discuss the operations. The pilots should
participate at these meetings. It is recommended such meetings are held in the
evening, allowing more preparation time for the next day’s activities.
9.1.2 A map of the operating area should be maintained up to date, showing:
1. Geography and topography of the area.
2. Infrastructure, roads, airports, etc.
3. The seismic programme and all prepared landing sites/helipads.
4. All identified hazards, such as power lines, high towers, etc.
This map should be available in the aircraft, radio room and flight planning office. If
a flight tracking system is used, the same map should be used as background on the
monitor screen.
9.1.3 For longer distance transit, the use of agreed safe flight routes/corridors is strongly
recommended. These should avoid built up areas, large bodies of water, high altitude
terrain and other identified hazards. In jungle covered areas, it is recommended that
safe flight routes follow the main rivers, even if this constitutes an increase in flight
distance. Note that adherence to such agreed corridors may eventually reduce search
and rescue (SAR) efforts and improve the chances of successful SAR.
9.1.4 For multi destination flights in medium and heavy helicopters, the use of a cabin
attendant/load master should be considered to:
1. Operate doors and cargo hatches, avoiding the need for the pilots to do this.
2. Ensure passenger discipline (seat belt, etc).
3. Manage internal cargo.
Refer to section 3.2.2. for training requirements for such a cabin attendant.
9.1.5 A documented procedure should be available for flight planning and authorization
and changes in flight plans. (Ref 2.2.1.2). As a minimum this procedure should
describe:
1. Who has the authority to issue flight plans and/or to modify these.
2. Written format to be used for flight plans, original to be issued to pilot and copy
retained by flight planner and copies to radio room and engineer.
3. Flight plans to be discussed with pilot before take off.
4. Pilot will have the ultimate authority in deciding whether to execute a flight as
proposed in the plan or not.
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