Partners in the SESAR project, PBN Rotorcraft Operations under Demonstration (PROuD), have run a series of test flights in Norway, showing how satellite-based take-off and landing procedures can enhance helicopter operations for critical emergency services. The use of performance based-navigational procedures in helicopters is expected to significantly improve vital services such as search and rescue and transporting medical patients, thereby improving the lives of ordinary citizens. The more precise and reliable the instrument flight procedures are, the more missions can be accomplished, and thus, more lives can be saved every day.
The technology promoted by the PROuD consortium and SESAR is one of the most accurate types of instrument flight procedures available today. It uses an enhanced satellite signal to identify the exact position of the helicopter and guide it along safe routes. Any obstacle, whether natural or man-made, is detected and taken into account when planning the airway of a helicopter. Europe is supporting its adoption by every major provider of emergency medical services.
Run by Norwegian Air Ambulance (NLA) and Airbus Helicopters, the test flights took place over a two-day period, during which time several take-offs and approaches were performed at Lørenskog and Oslo University Hospital Ullevål heliports. Feedback from pilots and flight data was collected and will be now analysed in order to verify the impact of the new procedures on operations. The results are expected to provide stakeholders across Europe with the proof of the effective benefits offered by the adoption of these new procedures and related technologies.
In many European states, EMS (emergency medical services) operations are carried out flying visually, meaning that the weather conditions are crucial for the mission’s success. In Norway, approximately 10% of NLA´s missions (around 700 flights each year) cannot be flown due to bad weather, while in Switzerland about 600 emergency medical missions have to be aborted each year due to poor visibility. With the introduction of enhanced navigational instruments, pilots will be able to fly precise approaches in poor weather conditions leading to improved success rates of EMS missions.
PROuD brings together NLA (Norsk Luftambulanse) the Swiss air rescue (Rega), IDS (responsible for the design of the procedures), Skyguide (the Swiss Air Navigation Services Provider) and Deep Blue (collecting data demonstrating the expected benefits). The helicopter used for the test flights is the H135 by Airbus Helicopters, a light twin-engine multi-purpose helicopter which is a global reference in EMS.
PROuD is one of several large-scale demonstration activities co-funded by the SESAR Joint Undertaking (SJU), the public-private partnership that pools the knowledge and resources of the entire European air traffic management community to deliver innovative solutions for a modernised ATM.
(Credit: Fredrik Naumann / Felix Features)