New ENG Aviation Safety Standards
February 21, 2009 (Anaheim, California) - After a year of work by the HAI ENG Committee, the new “Broadcast Aviation Safety Manual” is finished. The new ENG safety guidelines were given final approval by the HAI Board of Directors duri
ng the 2009 Heli-Expo.
The new safety guidelines in this manual serve as new industry safety standards for the ENG aviation community.
Broadcast stations, their aircraft vendors and aircrews now have new and solid safety guidelines for reference.
The new guidelines also actually precisely track new recommendations by the NTSB, thanks to close consultation between the HAI ENG Committee, the NTSB and FAA over the past year of work.
A key area is the issue of pilot-reporting.
The NTSB recommended that the industry, “Require ENG operators to assign reporting responsibilities to someone other than the flying pilot unless it can be determined that the pilot’s workload remains manageable under all conditions.”
The new HAI ENG safety manual specifies that pilot-reporters should not do live reports speaking to a camera while operating the flight controls unless they are accompanied by a co-pilot or trained observer.
Safety, not news, is the primary consideration. Pilot-reporters shall also decline station requests for live reports when ATC obligations and safe aircraft operation preclude safely narrating a report personally.
The NTSB also recommended high visibility strobe lights and high visibility paint on the aircraft and rotor blades. The HAI guidelines specify the same, plus use of high intensity ‘pulse light’ systems.
The NTSB recommended “development of” traffic advisory systems that are designed for helicopters and then later, a requirement for ENG operators to use them.
HAI’s guidelines recommend that operators not wait for development of new systems and instead, install the available TAS/TCAS/TIS systems now…until a better future system becomes available.
Annual safety meetings and letters of agreement between media and agencies are recommended by the NTSB. The HAI guidelines recommend the same.
While the NTSB did not recommend minimums for things like pilot experience, weather and risk management, HAI’s new guidelines address all of those in great detail, setting new safety standards.
The committee will now work on distribution of the guidelines and seeking compliance from the news industry. NEHA has offered to assist, beginning with posting the new guidelines. You can download the new guidelines by clicking here, or the image of the manual above.
The ENG Aviation Safety Manual is a living document and suggestions for updates are appreciated. Please send suggestions to: haieng@rotor.com