Data from simulator trials conducted as part of an effort to improve Helicopter Terrain Awareness and Warning Systems (HTAWS) for offshore operations are expected to help validate and certify advanced systems for delivery in the near future. This is part of a broader safety effort from trade association HeliOffshore, which works with OEMs, operators, and oil-and-gas companies to improve offshore rotorcraft safety.
The trials, held last month, involved pilots from operators CHC Helicopter and Bristow Group evaluating a modified Honeywell Mark XXII Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) in a Sikorsky S-92 simulator at Bristow’s Aberdeen, Scotland base. The system used flight-alert envelopes developed by the UK Civil Aviation Authority and published in its CAP 1519.
Using HTAWS in offshore operations presents several challenges. Some current systems can't accurately display fixed obstacles, such as oil platforms. And mobile obstacles present a challenge in keeping databases accurate. As a result, the focus has been on developing modes with alert envelopes that can be integrated into HTAWS and selected when appropriate. The modes' parameters are based on offshore operators' flight data monitoring data.
"HeliOffshore is hopeful that the successful demonstration of the system’s new envelopes providing enhanced collision avoidance protection without nuisance alerts will support its efforts to have upgraded HTAWS available for a variety of aircraft from 2018," the association said.