The UK's Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) is pressing forward with a bright idea which should make the task of landing on offshore platforms much easier for helicopter pilots.
DERA (B114) has completed a review of all the visual cues which pilots need to take in during the final seconds before landing.
They propose that the use of recently-developed lighting technologies such as electro-luminescent panels and discharge light savers should be employed to make the heli-deck more visible.
Trials have already led to the specification of light signal characteristics to meet the requirements of a heli-deck status light, a project involving the offshore industry and helicopter operators.
Research work is being funded by the UK's Civil Aviation Authority and is in the hands of experts at DERA's site in Bedford.
Source: Flight Daily News