Dear forum,
as discussed in another thread about VFR into IMC of a helicopter, helos are often only operated VFR. But is there any available statistics to prove this? I would take VFR/IFR equipped helo figures, operating statistics, pilot licenses, but couldn’t find a hard base for this. So if you can offer some paper, presentation or report, I would really appreciate it.
Their operators might have the statistics.
It’s important to mention that helicopters are allowed to operate VFR in a much lower visibility than aeroplanes. SERA.5001 imposes a 5 km visibility requirement in class F and G airspace, but has the following note:
When so prescribed by the competent authority:
(a) flight visibilities reduced to not less than 1 500 m may be permitted for flights operating:
. (1) at speeds of 140 kts IAS or less to give adequate opportunity to observe other traffic or any obstacles in time to avoid collision; or
. (2) in circumstances in which the probability of encounters with other traffic would normally be low, e.g. in areas of low volume traffic and for aerial work at low levels;
(b) Helicopters may be permitted to operate in less than 1 500 m but not less than 800 m flight visibility, if manoeuvred at a speed that will give adequate opportunity to observe other traffic or any obstacles in time to avoid collision. Flight visibilities lower than 800 m may be permitted for special cases, such as medical flights, search and rescue operations and fire-fighting.
Regarding the last sentence (VIS < 800 m), for example, Czech Republic explicitly authorises air ambulance and police helicopters to operate in a lower visibility at pilot’s discretion.
These people may have the stats you are looking for: http://www.ihst.org
Thanks for the hints, regarding the operators and SERA, just to make it clear, I didn’t argue against it! At IHST I couldn’t directly find figures, but there is an interesting paper (http://www.ihst.org/portals/54/Sing%20Eng%20IFR%20Helicopter%20Certification%20Proposal.pdf) explaining some more background regarding helicopters beeing IFR capable.
So thanks EuroGA!
But should anybody find numbers, please don’t hesitate to share them.
