HELICOPTER SAFETY ADVISORY CONFERENCE

September 14, 2006

Sheraton North – George Bush International

Houston, Texas

MINUTES

 INTRODUCTON

The third HSAC General Meeting for the year 2006 was convened at 08:30.    Vice Chairman, Mark Fontenot, offered regrets for Chairman Casey Lowery who, because of international business commitments, was unable to attend.  The Vice Chairman then welcomed the Members and asked the attendees for individual introductions by name and company.

 SAFETY TOPIC

Bob Williams presented 2006 Accident Update for the Gulf of Mexico. (Attachment 1 .ppt)

•         6 accidents 2006 YTD
•         4 Single Engine, 1 Light Twin, 1 Medium Twin
•         3  Fatalities
•         1 Night Flight
•         2 Additional ditchings and 1 overland event not recorded as accidents – all Single Engine

 Because of failure of API to update and adopt HSAC helideck recommendations in API-RP2L, HSAC will partner with HAI to produce a helideck document.

HSAC COMMITTEE REPORTS

 Vice Chairman’s Report – Mark Fontenot

 Communications, Weather, and Surveillance Teams (For complete report see Attachment 2 .doc)

 The FAA and the HAI are currently developing the charter that will be the guide to govern the Implementation Teams operations. At this time Vinnie Capezzuto and Matt Zuccaro will be co-chairs of the team.

•         Site Implementation Team – Bobby Nichols, Team Leader
•         Platform Team – Travis Allen, Team Leader
•         Transportation Team – Mike Hurst, Team Leader
•         External Coordination Team – Casey Lowery and E. J. Beaulieu, Team Leaders

 The Charter will be signed on 22 September 2006, with the first team meeting scheduled for 27 September 2006 in Washington D.C.

 Contract Award Schedule

•         Requests for bids begin on March 2007 with contracts to be awarded July 2007
•         Communication Implementation – 2007 to 2008
•         Weather –  2008
•         Surveillance – 2008 to 2009
•         Initial Operating capability for Weather and Communications – September 2009
•         Initial Operating capability for ADSB – December 2009

 Treasurer’s Report – Joe Gross

•         The Vice Chairman offered regrets for Joe Gross who was away on international business.
•         There is $19,600 in the treasury.

 Secretary’s Report – Ron Domingue

     Regular Members were to cast votes for Vice Chairman and Secretary for two year terms commencing January 2007.  The names of nominees for each Executive Committee seat were to be forwarded to the Secretary by August 16, 2006.  The only candidates for the two seats were the incumbents, Mark Fontenot and Ron Domingue, who were unopposed.  By default and with a round of applause, they accepted their respective offices for another two years.
   Welcomed New Members to HSAC:  Apache; Aerial Survey, Inc.; Dow Chemical; Professional Helicopter Pilot Association (PHPA); Barr Air Patrol; Diamond Offshore; Colonial Pipeline Company; and DART Helicopter Services.

 HSAC/FAA Interface – Travis Allen

•         The Vice Chairman offered regrets for Travis Allen who was unable to attend because of business commitments.
•         The Vice Chairman introduced Gary Eastburn, Airspace Manager – Western Air Defense Sector.  Mr. Eastburn replaces Jim Hicks.
•         Mr. Eastburn introduced Dan Shoemaker, Assistant Airspace Manager.

  Contact Information:

       Gary Eastburn – Airspace Manager

WADS/DOR

852 Lincoln Blvd

McChord AFB WA98438-1317

Office:  (253) 982-4605   Fax:  (253) 982-4694

                  gary.eastburn@wads.mcchord.af.mil

  Dan Shoemaker – Assistant Airspace Manager

Office:  (253) 982-4603   Fax:  (253) 982-4694

daniel.shoemaker@wads.mcchord.af.mil

Warning Areas “Eagle Z1, Z2, Z3, Z4, and Z5”  (Attachment 3 .doc)

•         Floor of the warning areas is 2000-feet
•         Primarily used by 159^th Fighter Squadron, Navy New Orleans and the 155^th Fighter Squadron, Pensacola
•         Need for higher floor to support helicopter IFR and co-exist safely with Military aircraft
•         Suggested meeting with key participants:  FAA, Air Traffic (Houston Center), Military and HSAC.
•         Mike Hurst suggested meeting after General Meeting to discuss forming a Committee

 Standardization and Safety – Terry Kaufman

2006 Hurricane Forecast Updated September 1, 2006 (Attachment 4 .ppt)

•         5 –   Hurricanes (was 9)
•         13 – Named Storms (was 17)
•         50 – Named Storm Days (was 85)
•         13 – Hurricane Days (was 45)
•         2 –   Intense (Cat. 3-4-5) Hurricanes (was 5)
•         4 – Intense Hurricane Days (was 13)

Air-to-Air Communication offshore use 123.025.

It was suggested that the frequency be added to the Fish Spotters decal.

HSAC Frequency Card:  Forward changes to Glenn Girard, glengirad@bristowgroup.com

Government Liaison – Terry Umfleet

•         The Vice Chairman offered regrets for Terry Umfleet who was unable to attend.
•         Mark Adolph suggested opening a dialogue with government agency
•         USCG and Homeland Security –  concerning support for deepwater projects.  There are no active USCG HH-60 Jayhawks with long range capability to provide deepwater emergency service.  The HH-65 has limited range, on-station duration, and passenger carrying capability.

 Heliport and Airways – Ken Kersher and Bob Williams

•         Tony Cramp was unavailable for presentation on helideck markings.
•         Recommended reference to HSAC RP for standard helideck markings.

 Bob Williams

•         ICAO Annex 14 – International Guide to Helideck Designs
Ø      Accepted RD helidecks can exit
Ø      Small vertical obstacles ( 2-inches or less)
Ø      Solid safety fencing
Ø      Helideck mark as per “state’s” units of measurements

 Technical Advisory Liaison – Patrick Robert and Rusty Politz

Aircraft Tire Maintenance Safety (Attachment 5 .ppt)

Aircraft tire maintenance is something that has long been considered as routine.  A visual inspection for thread wear and pressure, it’s good to go.  If the tire is unserviceable, just remove it and install a new one.
There are many aspects that go into tire and wheel maintenance.  As in most tasks involved with aircraft, vigilance to safety is of utmost importance
Over the years there have been several near misses, injuries and fatalities caused by improper  maintenance and procedures conducted on aircraft wheel assemblies
SK76 Tire Explosion Protection Apparatus contact:

Bulldog Direct Protective Systems, Inc.

1245 Tennessee Avenue

Cincinnati, OH 45229

Office:  (531) 281-6700    Fax:  (531) 281-6777   Website: www.bulldogdirect.com

•         For a quote, go to www.bulldogdirect.com/quote_request/cgi_floor.shtml, and complete the form.  Where it asks for “Vehicle” enter Sikorsky Helicopter and “Model” enter SK76.

Pipeline Aerial Observation – Mark Small

Recommended Practices (RP) finalized:

       •         PLA RP 2006-01  HSAC Preferred Maintenance Guidelines for Aerial Observations Airplanes (Attachment 6) 
       •         PLA RP 2006-02  HSAC Preferred Airplane Equipment Fit for Aerial Observations (Attachment 7) 
       •         PLA RP 2006-03  HSAC Patrol Captain Minimum Requirements Aerial Observations (Attachment 8)

 Mark Fontenot

•         Presented update HSAC Risk Reduction Action Plans (Attachment 9) and (Attachment 10) 
•         Action item to add Safety Bulletin SA 2004-1, Responsibilities and Bill of Rights for Helicopter Passengers/Pilots, to HUET Course syllabus.

Cynthia L. Keegan – NTSB Survival Factor Engineer

•         Aircraft accident investigation with emphasis on survival tools for passengers and crews, for example, emergency locator transmitters, external raft deployment, PFDs, etc.
•         Complements to Bob Williams for his excellent statistical data for the GoM.
•         Complement to Mark Adolph for the Shell Study.
•         2.5 million Passengers transported in GoM annually. 
•         Feedback, Information and Opinions to:

Cindy L. Keegan

Office of Aviation Safety

Survival Factor Division (AS-60)

Office: (202) 314-6390   Fax: (202) 314-6369

Email: keegac@ntsb.gov

The first meeting of 2007 will be January 17^th and 18^th at a location to be announced.

 Airspace “Eagle Golf” Working Group Committee

Attendees:  Pat Attaway, Michael Hurst, Gary Eastburn, Dan Shoemaker, Mike Silvestre, Terry Gambill, Don Day, Terry Kaufman, Allan Duquette, Mark Fontenot, and Ron Domingue

•         Principal users of Eagle Golf and Eagle Zulu airspace are 159^th Fighter Squadron, Navy New Orleans, and the 155^th Fighter Squadron, Pensacola, FL.
•         Mike Silvestre, Support Specialist Airspace & Procedures, contacted LTC Stavros and request a floor of 3,000-feet.  The LTC was agreeable and would try to accommodate.
•         Pat Attaway volunteered to be Committee Chairman.  Need to determine what customer locations underlie Eagle Zulu.  Peek flight days are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
•         Don Day, FAA, will contact military representative and Houston Center to set-up meeting to discuss civilian flight operations requirements.
•         Eagle Zulu is in Houston Center airspace; however, NOTAM for Eagle Zulu is published by Jacksonville Center.
•         Houston Center should be added to the NOTAM distribution list.
•         Suggestion to obtain Squadrons’ weekly schedule.
•         Suggested that other attendees should include:  Pat Graves, Jim Shugart and representatives from Jacksonville Center.
•         ATCAA defined:  Air Traffic Controlled Airspace Using Controlling Agency