Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET)
Imagine yourself firmly strapped into a helicopter seat, wearing a flight helmet, communications plugged in and flight suit on. You are surrounded by all the familiar controls, apparatus and equipment required to keep pilot, crew and aircraft in the air.
Now imagine being in that same situation - only upsidedown and slowly sinking underwater in a dark and freezing environment, where your only hope of survival is razor-sharp reaction time and instinct.
Hopefully it’s a situation that most of us will never find ourselves in but in a country the size of New Zealand, surrounded by water, it is a fact of life that helicopter rescue crews have to deal with every day.
Now, thanks to a joint-venture safety training programme recently undertaken, helicopter rescue crews from around the South Island have had the chance to practice underwater escape and survival techniques - preparing themselves for just such an eventuality.
The week-long training course, called HUET (Helicopter Underwater Escape Training) was held at Christchurch’s Jellie Park Aqualand, under instruction from Careflight Safety Services based on the Gold Coast in Queensland. Garden City Helicopters supported twenty nine pilots, paramedics, winch operators and rescue personel from Christchurch, West Coast and Nelson while another thirty four attended from other helicopter rescue organisations around the South Island.
The HUET course comprised of morning classroom sessions covering topics such as Survival at Sea, Rescue Procedures and real life ditching/accident accounts followed by the practical training component which featured a unique helicopter training module.
The module was designed with 6 seats - 2 in the front and 4 in the back. The front doors were hinge type with emergency jettison capabilities similar to the BK117 and AS350 helicopter. In the rear were 2 sliding doors, one on either side.
Each training group comprised of 5-6 people who each undertook 5-7 underwater dunkings ranging from
- Straight in pool with no rotation
- Straight in pool, no rotation with black out goggles
- Straight in pool using secondary exit (ie one of the exits unable
to be used)
- Complete 180º rotation
- Complete 180º rotation with black out goggles
- 180º rotation using secondary exit
On average it took between 15-30 seconds for each of the group members to exit the module and surface.
In a situation such as this, natural survival instinct would suggest you immediately undo your seatbelt, open the door and get out. However the disorientation caused by such an unfamiliar environment is one of the biggest threats to survival.
HUET teaches trainees to:
- Wait 5 seconds until all movement has stopped.
- Use your inboard hand (the one furthest from the door) to
locate the seatbelt buckle as a reference point.
- Place your outboard hand (orientation hand) on the reference
point then using touch, follow the seat belt buckle to the door and
then on to the door handle or emergency jettison handle.
- Open or release the door.
- Clear the exit with the orientation hand to make sure there are no
obstructions to hinder your exit then place your hand on the door
frame.
- Release the seatbelt with your inboard hand and then follow your
orientation hand to exit the helicopter and swim to the surface.
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