Flight Safety in Switzerland and Europe
• Who is Rega?• Rega’s Flight Safety Program• Accident/incident prevention• Flight safety in Europe• Demands made on the regulatory bodies (FAA, EASA,
ICAO)• Demands made on the manufacturers• Statistics
Privately-run foundation
10 bases
13 helicopters (eight A 109 K2, five EC 145)
3 air-ambulances (Challenger CL 604)
270 employees
2004: 12,029 missions flown ( 8,771 by helicopter)
2004: CHF 127 million cash flow,
CHF 69 million from patrons’ contributions
Is not subsidized by the Swiss government
Who is Rega?
Untervaz
Mollis
Erstfeld
Dübendorf
Basel
Lausanne Zweisimmen
Genève
Samedan
St. Gallen
Bern
Gsteigwiler
Locarno
Kloten
10 Bases +
3 Partnerbases
Rega’s Flight Safety Program
Objective of a Flight Safety Program
• A Flight Safety Program aims to make an effective contribution towards ensuring that the operators’ ground, flight and maintenance activities are planned, managed and performed in such a way that that the operations are completed with no damage to persons, equipment or the environment.
• The FSP focuses on identifying and evaluating potential hazards in line with predetermined criteria before flights are carried out.
Rega’s Flight Safety Program
Requirements
• Active support from the management (100%)• Simple, user-friendly reporting system• Feedback• Proper processing, analysis and conclusion• Further action must be taken to prevent reoccurrence• Confidentiality must be guaranteed• Non-punitive character• Immediate information, if necessary
Rega’s Flight Safety Program
Development
• Until 2000, one person responsible for flight safety
• Two new Flight Safety Officers attend their first training course in 2001 in the USA
• New safety program/reporting system introduced in June 2001
• Modification/improvement of reporting system approx. every six months
• Four-week training course in February 2004 in LAX
ASR versus missions
ASR
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Missions
6000
7000
8000
9000
10000
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Rega’s Flight Safety Program
Various categories
• Safety input
• Incidents • Serious incidents
• Accidents
• AIRPROX
• Ground operations
• Maintenance
Rega’s Flight Safety Program
Measures taken
• Immediate information
• Flight safety information (twice a year)
• Summary of reports received (every four months)
• Suggestions to the line person responsible
• Safety meeting (pilots’ meeting, training week, etc.)
• Analysis of potential trends
Accident/incident prevention
FLARM
FLARM is an aircraft anti-collision system that was initially developed to reduce mid-air collisions between gliders. The system couples a u-blox GPS receiver and a radio transceiver that can broadcast the position of any aircraft to other pilots who are using the system. It then uses acoustic and visual alarm signals to warn pilots of a potential collision or of fixed obstacles, such as cables or antennae.
• Very small device, very easy installation• Extremely attractively priced• No manipulation needed by the pilot
Accident/incident prevention
”Remove” project
• “Remove” project was launched by Rega and the Swiss Air Force in 2001
• Objective is to remove all the cable and transport installations that are no longer in use, particularly those put up by farmers
• Extremely time-consuming task: find out who the owner is, clarify if still in use, etc.
• 125 installations have already been dismantled• 123 installations are waiting to be removed• 50 facilities for which registration is mandatory have now
been registered• 94 facilities have been faulted• 231 no longer existing installations have been removed
from the records
Accident/incident prevention
SOPs
• Simplify procedures by standardizing them• Issue a brief reminder of procedures that are not
employed on a daily basis• Draw up guidelines governing the way in which a
mission should proceed• If necessary to deviate from these guidelines, report to
chief pilot• Regular deviation may indicate that the guidelines need
to be revised
Accident/incident prevention
SOPs
• Rescue hoist EC 145 / A 109• Long line• Night flights• Cablecar evacuations• Fire fighting• Helicopter Departure in Fog• Transport of persons on the external load hook• Water rescues• Barryvox avalanche device• Fixed rope
Accident/incident prevention
Training
• Training week held once a year• All procedures and mission types are drilled and
checked• Training includes rescue partners (Swiss Alpine Club,
fire brigade, police)• HDF check every six months, FOCA requirement every
twelve months• Night flight training approx. every 3-4 years
Flight safety in Europe
• A number of the Flight Safety Officers at the various air-rescue organisations in Europe are in contact with each other.
• The aim is to build up an international database via Rega’s reporting system. The involvement of the various Flight Safety Officers is currently being discussed.
• Possibility of finding out more about this system at www.rega.ch/ASR/
Demands made on the regulatory bodies
• Less paperwork• More action• Registration of obstacles 25m/GND (countryside) / 60m/GND (agglomerations)• Support for projects (“Remove” in Switzerland)• Standardization of procedures• Provide airspace structure for low-level lFR procedures
Demands made on the manufacturers
• Performance (Cat. A performance up to 10,000ft)
• All-weather capability
• Virtual flying (flight simulator)
NR A/ C VS HELICOPTER
3763 3761 3726 3715 3645
254 266 265 280 275
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
AIRCRAFT <5'700KG HELICOPTER
ACC/ SER.INC BY A/ C VS HELICOPTER
19
2221
35
28
53
7
11
8
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
ACC/SER.INC A/C <5'700KG ACC/SER.INC HELICOPTER
2004 REGA OCCURED DURINGALL REPORTS
GND MAN&ENG-START14%
T/OFF&HOVER19%
CLIMB4%
CRUISE12%DESCENT
4%
LANDING12%
MAINTENANCE6%
A/C ON GROUND7%
DIV22%
2002-2004 REGA OCCURED DURINGALL REPORTS
GND MAN&ENG-START12%
T/OFF&HOVER21%
CLI MB2%
CRUI SE13%
DESCENT3%
LANDI NG20%
MAI NTENANCE6%
A/C ON GROUND6%
DI V17%
2002-2004 REGA OCCURED DURINGALL REPORTS
GND MAN&ENG-START12%
T/OFF&HOVER21%
CLIMB2%
CRUISE13%DESCEND
3%
LANDING20%
MAINTENANCE6%
A/C ON GROUND6%
DIV17%
OCCURED DURING SWITZERLAND 2000-2004ACCIDENT&SER. INCIDENT
HOVER9%
TAKE-OFF/CLIMB21%
CRUISE28%
DESCEND/APPR21%
LANDING21%
Rega’s Flight Safety Program
Summary
• Within a short period of time, the number of reports has increased dramatically
• With a user-friendly system, it is usually possible to motivate most of the staff to participate
• No major differences between Rega and the rest of Switzerland as regards the type of incidents that have occurred
• Each FSO spends 20% of his time dealing with flight safety issues
• Project planned for a uniform reporting system nationwide/ Europe-wide