Operation "Martin-Pêcheur" (Kingfisher)

Fixed helicopter-type dunker.

In ASL 2/98, the lead article "Underwater Egress — Revisited" recommended that pilots and regular passengers of float-planes or float-equipped helicopters seek some form of underwater escape training. This led to many letters, e-mails and phone calls requesting information on where such training could be done.

Well, professional underwater escape training units are few and far between around the world, but a quick search on the Internet revealed many such sites. All of them offer effective training but most target the offshore helicopter industry and are somewhat hard to access for a lot of pilots. A search of what was available in Canada was done and we found four sites that offer the training.

There are three formal training facilities in the Atlantic provinces. These were designed primarily for survival training of helicopter crews and passengers, but provide an excellent and safe survival experience for users of any aircraft type. Two of them offer a large, fixed helicopter-type dunker that rolls on its side in an indoor pool. The third consists of a smaller movable dunker, which can travel to your location, thereby exposing more people to the training at a lower cost.

The first of the two fixed sites is found at the Offshore Safety and Survival Centre (OSSC), in St. John’s, Newfoundland, which offers underwater escape training as part of an extensive survival curriculum. The OSSC is a division of the School of Maritime Studies of the Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland. For information, call (709) 834-2076.

The second, similarly large dunker is found at Survival Systems Training, in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and they also offer a wide variety of survival courses. For information, call (902) 465-3888 or 1-800-788-3888.

The company offering the versatile, travelling dunker is Helicopter Survival Rescue Services Inc. (HSRS), also based in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. For information, call (902) 468-5638, or 1-800-565-8677.

The fourth training facility is quite different and unique, in that it is the only one we found that uses a real aircraft cockpit and is aimed directly to float-plane pilots and passengers. One other important difference is that the dunker tilts forward, rather than sideways, therefore providing a true simulation of a float-plane flipping over its nose. At this time, the training is only provided once a year by Marina Venise in Laval, Quebec.

On June 17, 1998, I had the opportunity to witness the event called "Opération Martin-Pêcheur," in no small part because Martin Delisle is the site’s general manager. He personally runs the entire operation (underwater) with the help of three pool-side rope handlers, two extra safety scuba divers and one crane operator.

The stage is simple: one in-ground pool, one stripped Cessna 150 cockpit without a windshield (for massive water entry), a custom-made metal frame that allows the cabin to be lifted and tilted on its back, and one rented crane. Safety jettison pins are installed in the four cockpit-door hinges for emergency removal if a trainee decides he or she is decidedly more like a pigeon than a dolphin.

Martin starts the session with a comprehensive safety briefing with a video, egress instructions and safety measures in and around the pool. Among the important issues briefed are the need to stay calm, to identify your exit as soon as possible and to hold on to a known reference point before releasing the seat belt. He also recommends that pilots let the passengers get familiar with the operation of the seat belts and door handles themselves, by letting them manipulate the devices two or three times. Doing everything for the passengers is doing them a large disfavour, as they will not know how to operate them in an emergency.

Emphasis is placed on the fact that, although everyone will have fun, it is not a game, but a serious survival exercise. There were about 50 participants who were allowed two dunks each. The accompanying pictures show a typical dunk, during and after. The event is endorsed by the Association des Pilotes de brousse du Québec, and publicized on their Web site. For information, call Martin Delisle at (514) 625-1680.

As an aside to this story, the joint industry-government task force on the Safety of Air Taxi Operations (SATOPS) reported a lack of information available to passengers in float-planes and float-equipped helicopters about underwater egress. The task force recommended that Transport Canada develop a brochure outlining underwater egress procedures that air operators can provide to their passengers and clients. The current System Safety brochure "Seaplanes — A Passenger’s Guide" does discuss emergency underwater egress and is available from your regional System Safety office. This brochure is currently being revised, and the section on underwater egress procedures will be reviewed in the context of the SATOPS recommendation.

Dunking at Marina Venise, during and after.

Dunking at Marina Venise, during and after.