The New Mexico State Police (NMSP) today shared lessons learned and reforms it instituted after the fatal crash of its AW109E helicopter on June 9, 2009, during a search-and-rescue mission in night instrument meteorological conditions and mountainous terrain. NMSP chief pilot Tom Long told an audience at the Heli-Expo show in Orlando that the agency took a hard look at itself and its policies and procedures following the issuance of a critical report on the accident by the National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB has placed public sector helicopter safety on its “ten most wanted list,” noting 130 accidents among operators in that sector over the last decade.
Long said that the NMSP reforms were instituted in conformance with industry standards using best practices established by the Airborne Law Enforcement Association (ALEA). The NTSB report also triggered the implementation of a comprehensive operations and risk-management program and improved communications including utilization of a joint tactical air controller (JTAC) who can be deployed with a ground unit.
The risk-management program includes factors such as weather and crew fatigue tied to a numeric scale. “If the numbers are too high, we work to mitigate the risk factors. We either execute, modify or cancel the mission,” Long said. He said that risk management was propagated up the chain of command and was transparent. The forms are completed by hand. “This isn't electronic. I want everyone to sit down and think about this,” Long said.
The department also now requires a local VFR flight plan and a preflight planning checklist including an equipment list. Hard duty times have been instituted, generally a 10-hour day with a maximum of eight hours of flight time. The latter can be stretched an hour for ferry flights “if the crew is up to it.”
To take emotion out of the cockpit, dispatch no longer tells crews the nature of the mission, only its location, until the decision to launch has been made by the crew.
Long stressed that everyone in the unit contributes to its standard operating procedures and that it is a “living document.”
The NMSP also added a dedicated tactical flight officer (TFO) program. Prior to the accident, pilots relied on ground troopers who did not have any formal aviation training to act as spotters and second crewmembers. “That is not the case anymore. In fact, we do not allow third parties in the helicopter. Our TFOs are now trained, and that includes night-vision goggle training. Everyone in the unit is a JTAC. They are experts in using the FLIR [forward looking infrared camera] and experts in navigation. We also teach them how to land in the event something happens to the pilot. These things reduce pilot workload. On some missions we even take two TFOs–one in front and one in back. We have an extra FLIR screen in the back," Long said.
The NMSP also is equipping flight crews with personal locator beacons and the Spider Tracks aircraft tracking system. “I can pick up my iPhone and see where that helicopter is 24/7,” Long said. “We also have mini iPads with Garmin Pilot” for navigation, Long said. Crews are also now issued military-style flight vests and survival gear that flies on each mission.
Long said state officials “from the Governor on down” have been very supportive of the reforms and provided excellent support. “We've made a lot of changes.”