Helicopter Flight Rescue System
Encyclopedia
Canadian Aviation Regulations
The Canadian Aviation Regulations are the rules that govern civil aviation in Canada.-Establishment:The CARs became law on October 10, 1996 replacing the former Air Regulations and Air Navigation Orders. The authority for the establishment of the CARs is the Aeronautics Act...
(CARs) is authorized for use in Forest Fire Fighting, Law Enforcement
Law enforcement agency
In North American English, a law enforcement agency is a government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.Outside North America, such organizations are called police services. In North America, some of these services are called police while others have other names In North American...
and Search and Rescue
Search and rescue
Search and rescue is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger.The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, mostly based upon terrain considerations...
. Under CARs, HFRS falls under Class D operations, which is that it involves a jettisonable human external load suspended beneath the landing gear of the helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
. By regulation, air carriers, operations personnel, and essential aircrew are required to be extensively trained. There must also be a memorandum of understanding
Memorandum of understanding
A memorandum of understanding is a document describing a bilateral or multilateral agreement between parties. It expresses a convergence of will between the parties, indicating an intended common line of action. It is often used in cases where parties either do not imply a legal commitment or in...
between the tasking agency and the air operator in order to ensure a good working relationship. In British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, the Provincial Emergency Program allows volunteer search and rescue societies to perform HFRS to conduct various rescue missions. Given the benefits of extending a rescuer below the aircraft, thus allowing the aircraft to remain clear of obstacles while a rescue/insertion/extraction is performed, it is evident that this is an essential life saving tool. This system is commonly referred to as longline rescue and involves a rescuer being attached to the bottom of a longline and being slung to a rescue site. This allows the pilot to insert the rescuer into most types of terrain (angle, obstacles, and hazards permitting).
HFRS in British Columbia
One of the pioneer search and rescue teams in Canada of the Helicopter Flight Rescue System was and continues to be, North Shore RescueNorth Shore Rescue
North Shore Rescue is a non-profit organization dedicated to wilderness search and rescue around Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It consists of a team of approximately 40 volunteers who perform approximately 90 search and rescue operations each year, mostly in the rugged, steep, and thickly...
. This organization recognizing a need to move beyond reliance on conventional hover entry-exit techniques (still widely used) implemented the system to the team in 1996. Since then, it has been a life saving tool, in many of their rescues. With benefits come costs, and much of those costs include the heavy price of training given that search and rescue members are volunteers. North Shore Rescue trains heavily to stay up to speed. With HFRS' growing popularity in BC, and its relative simplicity, many more teams have received kits and have begun using it. Teams in the Lower Mainland or Metro Vancouver who utilize this tool include North Shore Rescue, Chilliwack, Squamish and Whistler.
System Components
The HFRS system has multiple components which ultimately safely suspend a rescuer under the helicopter (extended below the skids) with two distinct actions required to release the load, and load bearing redundancy. The components include:| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| Belly Band | A strap which is fitted through the cabin of the aircraft (encircling the aircraft structure) that provides a secondary point of attachment and release. This adds the redundancy the system requires. Release is achieved with an integrated quick release device, similar to that used on parachutes. link |
| Y-lanyard | The Y-lanyard connects the belly band and the aircraft electric release hook to the main load line. link |
| Main load line | The main load line is a high visibility low-stretch aeronautically approved rope used to suspend the load under the aircraft. link |
| Rescue Harness | The rescue harness is the ultimate point of attachment for rescuers to the system. link |
| Aerial Rescue Platform (ARP) | The aerial rescue platform is used to carry an injured patient. ARP |
Pictures of these components can be viewed in the gallery below. Ultimately, this system is a versatile and safe way of executing complicated rescues in often dangerous and unforgiving terrain.