canada Archives - The Rotary Wing Show Podcast

December 11, 2020December 15, 2020

RWS 92 – Human External Cargo Helicopter Ops with Jeff Yarnold

Jeff Yarnold Boost Human External Cargo Systems

As versatile as helicopters are there are still tight places where they just can’t land to get people in or out. For overwater flights, rescue teams and some utility operations that means using a hoist or under-slung line to reach someone. A hoist fitted helicopter is not always avaliable. Hence we have the considerations that go into Human External Cargo (HEC) where people are flown on the end of an extended line attached to the helicopter belly hook(s).

Jeff Yarnold is VP of Operations at Boost Human External Cargo Systems, a company that he co-founded in 2013. In the interview Jeff goes into the Transport Canada grounding of Human External Cargo equipment that was avaliable at the time and the search and eventual manufacture of a certified solution.

When conducting external load flights with underslung equipment or stores as pilots and crews we want the ability to quickly release the load should that be required to ensure the safety of the aircraft. As long as the released load does not hit someone on the ground then it may be expensive but is an accepted risk of that type of cargo carriage. The load is expendable. The release control is almost always located on the cyclic and requires minimal effort by the pilot. Inadvertent releases are rare however can occur. Either through human error or a failure of the hook system.

Now with people on the end of the line that could find themselves inadvertently fall free of the helicopter the acceptance of risk goes way down and additional measures are required. The previous solution (which is still used in different jurisdictions) was to fit a ‘belly band’ through and under the helicopter cabin to provide another backup anchor point to the line and its attached humans.

The advantage of the belly band solution was that it was extremely portable and could be fitted to a wide range of helicopters used in the external load role. It was this belly band solution that Transport Canada grounded due to concerns about its certification and fitness for purpose.

Second hook mount on a Bell 212 to allow Human External Cargo usage. The primary aircraft hook can be seen further back inline.

The North Shore Search and Rescue organisation in British Columbia that Jeff still works for, found themselves without a viable way to effect many of the mountain rescues in their area of responsibility. Necessity being the mother of all invention… Jeff and his business partner Derek set about designing a solution.

While Jeff goes into the sometimes bumpy road to market in the podcast the end product was a purpose designed 2nd hook system that is now approved for AS350/355, Bell 206L, 407, 212, 412 types and MD500.

In this podcast we go into:

Helicopters rescues in BC, Canada
Jeff’s experiences as a rescue technician then helicopter pilot
HEC vs hoist ops
Grounding of existing HEC equipment and impact on operators
Design and manufacture journey to bring a solution to market
HEC procedures
Insurance considerations for flying people suspended underneath a helicopter

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Links from this week’s episode:
Support the podcast on Patreon
Boost Human External Cargo Systems – This is Jeff’s company producing role equipment for the HEC market.

An Airbus AS350 helicopter cockpit configured with additional controls for the 2nd hook used during Human External Cargo operations.

Do you have a question for Jeff or tips from your own experience? Be part of the conversation by leaving a comment below.

June 13, 2016

RWS 49 – Toronto Traffic Helicopter with Dini Petty

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Dini Petty was tapped on the shoulder in a dinner to train as a helicopter traffic reporter and pilot in Toronto. — Dini Petty was tapped on the shoulder in a diner to train as a helicopter traffic reporter and pilot in Toronto.

Dini Petty forged her mother’s signature on a permission form for skydiving lessons when she was 17. By age 22, Dini Petty was flying above Toronto, Canada as the first female traffic helicopter pilot who was also giving traffic reports while flying.

Dini was tapped on the shoulder in a Toronto restaurant to fill a flying reporter role as part of the competition between Toronto radio stations at the time. Not only was she to report on the traffic but Dini was to be trained as a pilot and to do the job solo. Most of the other stations were using a 2 person crew – pilot and reporter.

Dini clocked up 5000 hours in a pink Hughes 300 in the traffic reporter role. In that time she had a number of scares which she talks about in the interview.

Dini posing at the controls of the helicopter that she flew as traffic reporter in Toronto.

After that much time over Toronto reporting on what would sometime be the same traffic build ups every day Dini made the career jump to a television news anchor and then host of her own daily talk show that ran on Canadian TV for 10 years.

As a young female pilot in the 1960s Dini faced some resistance to the status quo and perceptions at the time – from being taken seriously when reporting mechanical issues to regulator concerns about flying while pregnant. That she was a talented pilot and very persistent helped to change the opinions of those that she worked with.

Dini tells the story of a rescue search that she was involved in that makes for a great human factors and CRM case study when looking back at the chain of events.

The radio stations in Toronto were each operating their own helicopters to cover traffic news.

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Links from this week’s episode:
Dini’s Website
Cat Litter crowdfunded project
Dini’s Instagram
World Helicopter Day

Video – Dini Petty interviewing Harrison Ford
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'Be remarkable' if you want people to talk about your company. A pink helicopter and flight suit certainly achieves that. — ‘Be remarkable’ if you want people to talk about your company. A pink helicopter, pink flight suit and Dini Petty certainly achieves that.

Magazine article covering Dini's flying role. This was the original blue colour of the helicopter before the radio station repainted it. — Magazine article covering Dini’s flying role. This was the original blue colour of the helicopter before the radio station repainted it.

PR shots in between traffic reports. Dini leveraged her celebrity from the traffic role into a career in television after 5000 hrs of flying overhead Toronto.

Do you know anything to add to this interview by Dini Petty? Be part of the conversation by leaving a comment below.

June 29, 2015July 1, 2015

RWS 32 – Helicopter Flight Paramedics with Bernie Walker

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Bernie Walker has been a helicopter flight paramedic in Canada for over 16 years.

Bernie Walker is a Flight paramedic working with STARS – which is the Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service – an EMS organisation that covers most of Western Canada.

Bernie has been with STARS as a flight paramedic for over 16 years now and these days plays a big part in their educational programs. So he is someone again with heaps of experience in a helicopter role but this time from the back of the cabin.

I am guilty of making the interviews for the podcast very pilot centric which is just a factor of my own background and experience but I would love to represent a range of helicopter aircrew roles.

It just seems to be that loadmasters and aircrewmen keep ducking for cover when I try to corner them. 🙂

A STARS AW139 helicopter on the ramp. Photo: Calgary Sun

So I really enjoyed chatting to Bernie about the flight paramedic role as it stretches my knowledge of the industry. I’m not expecting to be in an EMS position any time soon but for those of you that might be then Bernie gives a really good insight into many of the considerations that the team in the back have to deal with.

If you listen between the lines so to speak I think you’ll also get value from the current best practice approach to critical patient care when its applied to how we tackle emergency or non-standard airborne situations.

We head into the interview with Bernie explaining the EMS coverage in Western Canada and the typical career progression into the helicopter flight paramedic role.

Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play in new window | Download

Links from this week’s episode:
The STARS organisation website
World Helicopter Day

Video produced by STARS showing the different careers in the organisation
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A STARS BK117 decked out with medical equipment

Got a question for Bernie about the flight paramedic role or STARS? Be part of the conversation below. If you’ve listened to the episode then don’t forget to leave links to your favourite crew resource management / human factors resources below.