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Part V

Helicopter Operations

• Shipboard Procedures
• Helicopter Winching Operations

Shipboard Procedures

Landing and Takeoff ^

22 1) The ship’s Master or, where no Master is carried, the Person having Command, is responsible for overall safety and may stop or curtail helicopter operations at any time, for the ship’s safety.

(2) The helicopter Pilot-in-Command is responsible for flight safety and may decline to take off or land, for the helicopter’s safety.

(3) The Aviation Group sets standards for the design, construction, equipment, inspection and operation of helicopters, including their operations over water and in low-temperature conditions.

(4) The Aviation Group licences pilots, crews and maintenance personnel for helicopters.

(5) Radio and visual communications between a ship and a helicopter should conform to communication procedures approved by the Department of Communications or Aviation Group, as applicable, and be fully understood by both vessel and helicopter personnel.

(6) An Officer-in-Charge or, where no Deck Officer is carried, a Person-in-Charge appointed by a ship’s Master or Person having Command, should locally direct firefighting and rescue operations, and be readily identifiable by wearing a distinctive and highly visible vest.

(7) Subject to subsection (1), procedures for helicopter take off from and landing upon a ship should conform to Aviation Group requirements, with particular attention being given to operations in restricted visibility or bad weather.

(8) Before authorizing takeoff and landing operations, the ship’s Master or Person having Command should ascertain that:

1. an Officer-in-Charge, or Person-in-Charge and necessary crew are standing-by on the helicopter deck;
   
   
2. a rescue craft has been readied and is capable of immediate launching in the event that the helicopter or any person lands in the water;
   
   
3. the shipboard aids to navigation are available for use at the request of the helicopter Pilot-in-Command
   
   
4. all safety and firefighting equipment, including pumps, is in immediate readiness, and at least one crew member, adequately trained in firefighting operations, is dressed in a prescribed firefighter’s suit;
   
   
5. artificial lighting is satisfactory to the helicopter Pilot-in-command;
   
   
6. full radio-telephone communications have been mutually established among the ship’s bridge or command position, the helicopter and the helicopter deck; and
   
   
7. the helicopter deck and approach area
   
   (i) are clear of all foreign objects and debris,
   
   (ii) have all loose objects, including personnel headgear, secured, and
   
   (iii) have, where necessary, ship side railings lowered.

Helicopter Winching Operations ^

23 (1) Procedures for helicopter winching operations should include requirements prescribed in subsection 22(1) to (6) and paragraphs 22(8)(a) to (f).

(2) Winching procedures of helicopters above ships should conform to Aviation Group requirements, with particular attention given to transfer-of-personnel operations in restricted visibility or bad weather.

(3) Before winching operations commence, grounding facilities from the helicopter to the ship should be provided for the removal and control of electrostatic accumulations; such facilities should be capable of automatic detachment without hazard to the helicopter.

(4) Before authorizing winching operations, the ship’s Master or Person having Command should ascertain that:

1. the deck, overdeck and approach area
   
   (i) are clear of all foreign objects and debris, and
   
   (ii) have all loose objects, including personnel headgear, secured;
   
   
2. members of the deck party are wearing hardhats;
   
   
3. the deck party includes a competent hook handler wearing insulating gloves and footwear to protect himself against inadvertent discharge of static electricity;
   
   
4. for helicopter operations over oil tankers, chemical tankers and gas carriers, inerting of tanks has been carried out in accordance with subsection 11(3);
   
   
5. all personnel to be transferred between the vessel and the helicopter have been fully briefed on winching procedures; and
   
   
6. radio-telephone communications have been mutually established among the ship’s bridge or command position, the helicopter and the deck winching area.

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