Helicopter Underwater Egress Training at NMCI
Thursday 26 October 2006
Imagine it’s a perfect day - blue skies, slight chop noticeable on the waves below, you’re on your way home after your tour on the rig, when suddenly there’s a loud crack, the helicopter vibrates wildly and you look up to see the pilot and co-pilot frantically trying to control what has now become a flying brick. The pilot shouts over the noise “prepare to ditch…..”
Moments later the belly of the aircraft hits the swell with a thud, the main rotor blade hits the water, shears immediately and flys through the air. Copious amounts of water rush in, the aircraft starts to invert, it’s dark, the water that looked pleasant from 1000 feet above is freezing, there’s frantic grabbing for door handles and seat belts. The noise stops, now there’s just bubbles and swirling water, you are gasping for air and your brain is screaming “what are my chances of survival?”
An interesting statistic from a HUET (Helicopter Underwater Egress Training) training body states that 80% of all helicopter ditchings are survivable and the survival rate of personnel involved in ditching of helicopters is 15% of people without training and 90% with HUET training. Bear in mind a helicopter would take about 15 seconds to hit the water and 4 seconds to invert so you’re going to have less than a minute to get out safely. One survivor describes it as like being "dumped by a twenty foot wave...down becomes up and up becomes impossible to find.”
Bottom line, it is essential that training is given to passengers and flight crews so they may be better equipped to escape from an overturned or submerged helicopter when confusion abounds, the water is cold, visibility is poor, and orientation is nearly impossible.
Staff at the NMCI have recently not only gone through such training but have also completed an intensive course to enable them to become HUET instructors and HUET safety divers. The acronym HUET stand for Helicopter Underwater Egress Training, so having read that explanation you shouldn’t be in any further doubt as to what the course entails.
A typical HUET course consists of classroom instruction covering emergency procedures, safety equipment, ditching preparation and correct egress procedures. The second part of the training involves practical exercises in the NMCI sea survival pool using a HUET simulator affectionately known as a ‘dunker’. Participants are strapped in the dunker before the whole unit is rolled over and submerged simultaneously. Obviously this has to be done under strictly monitored conditions, so the set up is two instructors in the unit, two safety divers in the water and a qualified hoist operator on the pool side. This routine is repeated several times with the participants escaping from a variety of inverted positions.
Our own training consisted of approximately 200 dunks, the first of which saw us escape in seconds like rats leaving a sinking ship. By the end of our course, we were pushing each other to see who could reach a new goal of 2 minutes upside down underwater on one breath hold, a record which was set by our superb instructor Mike from Canada. None of us made the 2 minutes, almost but not quite.
By the end we all agreed there can be no doubt that when you are provided with information and training you are better prepared to meet any situation, especially an emergency situation. The HUET training strives to provide that level of information and preparation and give trainees the self-confidence needed to enhance their chances of survival. Our team looks forward to our first opportunity to provide that training which will get underway in NMCI in the near future.
- Cormac MacSweeney , Lecturer NMCI
