The UK Civil Aviation Authority finished its original Helicopter Operations Monitoring Programme (HOMP) trial in late 2001. As a result of its success, the UK Offshore Operators Association (UKOOA) committed its members to fund the system's implementation on all flight data recorder (FDR) -equipped UK public transport helicopters operating over the Continental Shelf. Bristow Helicopters (BHL) now operates HOMP on all its North Sea fleet. The CAA has since funded a follow-on programme bringing HOMP to a second UK operator, CHC Scotia - now CHC Europe, and to a second helicopter type, BHL's Sikorsky S-76. This allows for HOMP development and refining. Both BHL and CHC identified "significant" operational safety issues and took corrective measures, and they identified common operational risks on their AS332L fleets. The flight data measurements demonstrate a capability to "map the helideck environment", to build up a picture of the precise nature of offshore platform structure-induced turbulence and the effects of hot turbine exhaust plumes.
Source: Flight International
