Offshore flight services

EC135 Offshore. Credit F.Hoelzel

Words: Caterina Jahnke, HTM

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It’s early in the morning on the airfield of the East Frisian City of Emden (EDWE) and even at this time there is a hustle and bustle. Ground handlers are towing helicopters over the apron, refueling them and the first passengers are arriving at the check-in area. A strong and cold wind is blowing, a perfect day for flying, at least for the HTM crews.

As soon as the wind turbines are out of service and the waves too high to transport the trouble shooting teams, via CTV (a special Crew Transfer Vessel), the hour of action sounds for the Emden based helicopter operator. Time is money and an unserviceable wind energy plant produces costs instead of earning profit (12.000-30.000 euros a day on windy days). Therefore, the top goal of HTM is to serve their customers timely, safely with utmost flexibility flexible.

One day offshore

Normally the technicians fly to the windfarm in the morning, do their job at the wind turbine or converter platform (OSS), and return in the afternoon or evening. This is a typical mission makes up 60 to 80% of HTM’’s work load, in the offshore business.

Once at the airfield, the passengers receive a safety briefing, comparable with those on airline flights. The crew for hoist flights is normally a pilot and a hoist operator. At the moment HTM operates single pilot VFR, who prepares their flight documentation, checks the weather and creates the flight plans.

After weighing the passengers and their

cargo the fuel quantity is calculated for the planned mission. Next the helicopter is pulled out of the hangar and is refueled for the flight. This is done by the hoist operator or the ground handling staff. About 15 minutes prior to the planned takeoff the passengers are asked to put on their survival suit: a survival suit is mandatory, as well as a safety vest with a breathing system.

For hoist missions the passengers also carry a special ETSO (European Technical Standard Order) certified harness and a hoist extension, plus their helmets, which

often include a radio, and gloves. The ground ops personnel then drive the passengers and the crew to the helicopter, ready on the apron.

Now the ground handlers hand the passengers over to the flight crew. HTM´s aim is a close relationship between the crew and the occupants. The passengers have the chance to talk to pilot and hoist operator at any time, whilst on their base. Many technicians and flight crews have known each other for a long time, which is of great benefit when working together and for mutual confidence.

Prior to boarding the helicopter flight crew checks the right fitting and the condition of the passengers PPE one last time and gives them a final safety briefing if needed. Now the flight can depart. Shortly before reaching the wind turbine the cabin and its occupants are checked by the hoist operator for the upcoming hoist mission. The pilot reduces the airspeed until reaching the minimum speed for opening the cabin’s sliding door.

Now the HHO can start and prepare the winch. After attaching the anti-static line to the winch hook and the passenger to the safety line in the cabin, the hoist operator opens the technicians seat belt and using hand signals, asks him / her to take a seat in the open door.

The passenger, attached to the winch hook,

Hardly any industry is growing as fast as the offshore-wind energy sector. The helicopter operator HTM Helicopter Travel Munich GmbH, has supported offshore alternative energy from the very beginning. Today, the company is one of the leading providers for helicopter hoist-missions to offshore wind turbines and their substation platforms. PES is delighted to bring you this exclusive.

The Offshore-Main-Base in Emden (D-HTMG and D-HTMJ in front of the hangar). Credit C.Jahnke

The Offshore-Main-Base in Emden (view into the hangar). Credit C.Jahnke

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is lifted and gently pulled out of the cabin. The final ‘thumbs up’ shows the HHO that the passenger has finished his safety check and is ready to be hoisted down to the power plant. The passenger is slowly lowered to the platform from a height of about 30 feet, until he communicates via hand signal that he has passed the 2-metre mark (above the ground) and has reached the ground. The passenger then disconnects himself and gives the hand signal to pull up the hook again.

The hoist procedure out of a hovering helicopter to a wind turbine at about 90m high, with the stormy sea down below, might look very stunning but it´s a long time approved and very safe procedure.

To continue with their high-level hoist missions’ standards HTM pays close attention to the high training standards and experience of their pilots and hoist operators. Pilots need a lot of flight experience to before they are hired at HTM and most of the hoist operators have a military or international SAR background. They go through a rigorous and intensive and training, before being allowed to carry out offshore hoist missions.

From the very beginning

The offshore wind energy in Germany is still

a young industry. The first windfarm in the North Sea was Alpha Ventus, which was connected to the grid in 2010. Even at this stage HTM worked with the operator, DOTI (Deutsche Offshore Testfeld und Infrastructur GmbH). The helicopter operator, with their base in Bavaria, was one of the first suppliers of offshore helicopter services in the German Bight (Deutsche Bucht). Thanks to the conveniently situated location of the Emden airport, it soon became the new base of HTM and since then it has been a growing hub for helicopter-based transfer flights.

Thus, the airfield’s utility company Stadtwerke Emden (SWE) did not necessarily expect such an increase in flights, HTM’s first operation centre and office, which at that time was just two employees, was a small container on the apron. The first helicopter the Munich company sent to Emden was an EC135 P2+ with the registration ‘D-HTMA’. This type of aircraft is well known for its relative low maintenance and the high reliability. But it’s also one of the few helicopters that fulfills the requirements for single engine performance for hoist operations.

The windfarm Alpha Ventus is located about 50 km north-west of the island of Borkum. In the first few months HTM

transferred the offshore wind energy technicians to the offshore substation (OSS) in a ‘regular’ way (meaning with a landing on the OSS to disembark and board the passengers). This was then followed by the hoist operation, which was started at the nearby wind turbines. This means: the technicians, or trouble shooting teams, are flown to the wind turbine and are hoisted down from the hovering helicopter using the rescue winch, as there is no winch designed purely for offshore hoisting.

This type of mission was also new to the German Authorities (LBA, Luftfahrt Bundes Amt) – this is why there were either inadequate regulations for flying to the offshore wind plants, or substations or no regulations at all. HTM and DOTI started to develop and implement procedures designed to enable a safe operation to and within the windfarms. Furthermore, they combined the experiences and expertise gained from the Alpine Rescue Comitee ICAR, where they were used to flying human loads and performing winching missions in the mountains.

The next step was the development of an extensive training program for the offshore technicians, who would become hoist passengers later on. The training is divided into three parts. It starts with an intensive

A pax is hoisted down during the practical training. Credit C.Jahnke

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theoretical part: the trainee learns the processes, backgrounds and techniques of the hoist operation during the first half of the training day. Next is training in a hangar, to familiarize the participants with his or her personal safety equipment and the practical procedures of the hoist mission including hand signals and abnormal situations. This is followed by the flight training, where the trainee is hoisted in and out of the flying helicopter: over the ground and on top of a hoist tower. This 37m high training tower was specifically designed for the needs of the offshore operators and offers the opportunity for a realistic and effective education.

These instruction regulations are also included in the refresher training program for passengers who only fly for a short period of time or conversion training for passengers who have flown on other

helicopter types before.

The boom continues

In the last year the number of offshore wind turbines in the Northern Sea increased exponentially. From only a few dozen wind turbines back in 2009, to 1,150 turbines by the end of 2017and more than 2,000 wind plants have received approval.

The growing number of wind turbines, means the need for helicopter transfer flights is also increasing monthly. The small regional airfield of Emden nowadays is a central hub for German offshore helicopter operators. HTM is located in modern buildings with offices, hangar and training rooms, not only here but also in Norden Norddeich, Helgoland and Borkum, where at the moment they provide eight helicopters for their customers.

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HTM

Helicopter Travel Munich GmbH was founded back in 1997 by Hans Ostler, a very experienced pilot, in the outskirts of Munich and started the operation with three employees and two helicopters. Following the slogan ‘From A to B is not enough’ the company now offers a wide range of aerial services as of today. Starting with film and photo flights, Offshore Crew Transfer, freight transportation, training in the company’s own ATO (flight school), to VIP flights and fire fighting in Europe. The dispatch is working seven days a week and can be reached 24 hours. The fleet today consists of 3 modern business jets and of about 27 helicopters that are maintained in the EASA Part 145 maintenance organization that was founded in 2004. Today the company is occupying 140 employees.

The fleet consists mostly of Airbus/Eurocopter EC135, P2+ and T3 but also includes the state of the art H145, with more of these modern helicopters to be ordered soon. The main customers right now are Siemens, Ørsted (formerly Dong Energy), EWE, E. On, WindMW, EnBW, Senvion and Adwen, to count only some.

The windfarms under contract are Alpha Ventus (with 12 Wind Energy Plants), Amrumbank West (80), Borkum Riffgrund (78), GlobalTech 1 (80), Godewind 01 and Godewind 02 (55 & 42), Nordergründe (18), Nordsee Ost (48), Nordsee One (54), Meerwind Süd/Ost (80), Trianel Windpark Borkum (40) and Riffgat (30) – Merkur (66), Hohe See (71) and Albatros (56) will follow soon.

Hoisting a passenger on to the offshore wind turbine. Credit F.Hölzel

The hook is reeled in after a successful hoist mission. Credit F.Hölzel

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