AMC1 SPA.HEMS.130(e) Crew requirements

HEMS TECHNICAL CREW MEMBER

(a)     When the crew is composed of one pilot and one HEMS technical crew member, the latter should be seated in the forward-facing front seat (co-pilot seat) during the flight.

However, by day the HEMS technical crew member may be seated in the cabin at the discretion of the commander if all of the following conditions are met:

(1)     the HEMS technical crew member is likely to be tasked with HEMS HEC duties from the cabin during the HEMS mission;

(2)     the flight is conducted to or from a HEMS operating site;

(3)     the operator’s risk assessment determines that the technical crew member can carry out their primary tasks from the cabin; this risk assessment may determine that the rear door(s) needs (need) to remain open for better visibility.

In addition, both by day and by night, the HEMS technical crew member may also re-position from the front seat to the cabin and back in the hover phase at the HEMS operating site used for HEMS HEC, if conditions (a)(1) to (a)(3) and all the following additional conditions are met:

(4)     the risk assessment determines that the technical crew member can safely move from one position to the other;

(5)     the helicopter is so equipped that the repositioning does not result in inadvertent interference with flight controls or aircraft systems;

(6)     the operator defines SOPs for the transitioning to unaided visual references prior to entering the hover phase and for the re-positioning of the crew member;

(7)     the operator defines initial and recurrent training towards these SOPs as well as recency requirements for technical crew members involved; and for night operations the training takes place by night;

(8)     for night operations, the operator defines criteria to determine whether the HEC operation takes place with sufficient visual references at pre-flight stage and on-site. Sufficient visual references should be considered not to be met in the context of offshore operations;

(9)     by night, the commander determines whether the pre-flight criteria defined in (8) are likely to be met without the use of NVG, and on-site, whether the criteria are met without the use of NVG. The commander should only use the procedure if the criteria are met.

(b)     The primary tasks of the HEMS technical crew members are to assist the commander in:

(1)     collision avoidance;

(2)     the selection of the landing site;

(3)     the detection of obstacles during approach and take-off phases; and

(4)     the reading of checklists when seated in the front seat.

(c)      The commander may delegate other aviation tasks to the HEMS technical crew member, as necessary:

(1)     assistance in navigation;

(2)     assistance in radio communication/radio navigation means selection;

(3)     if properly qualified and licensed, radio communications;

(4)     reading of checklists from the cabin; and

(5)     monitoring of parameters.

(d)     The commander may also delegate to the HEMS technical crew member tasks on the ground, as necessary:

(1)     assistance in preparing the helicopter and dedicated medical specialist equipment for subsequent HEMS departure;

(2)     assistance in the application of safety measures during ground operations with rotors turning (including: crowd control, embarking and disembarking of passengers, refuelling etc.).

(e)     There may be exceptional circumstances when it is not possible for the HEMS technical crew member to carry out their primary task as defined under (b).

This is to be regarded as exceptional and is only to be conducted at the discretion of the commander, taking into account the dimensions and environment of the HEMS operating site.

(f)      When two pilots are carried, there is no requirement for a HEMS technical crew member, provided that the pilot monitoring performs the aviation tasks of a technical crew member.

(g)     When selecting flight crew in accordance with SPA.HEMS.130(a), for single-pilot operations the operator should consider the experience of both the pilot and the technical crew member.

(1)     The operator should consider that a HEMS technical crew member is inexperienced until he or she has completed 50 HEMS missions. The operator may include HEMS missions flown during line flying under supervision.

(2)     When an inexperienced HEMS technical crew member is part of the crew, the following should apply:

(i)      the pilot has achieved 50 flight hours on the type within a period of 60 days since the completion of the operator’s conversion course on the type; or

(ii)     the pilot has achieved 100 flight hours on the type since the completion of the operator’s conversion course on the type.

(3)     A smaller number of flight hours or missions than those defined in (1) or (2) above, and subject to any other conditions which the competent authority may impose, may be acceptable to the competent authority when one of the following applies:

(i)      a new operator commences operations;

(ii)     an operator introduces a new helicopter type;

(iii)     the pilot has previously completed a type conversion course with the same operator (reconversion);

(iv)     credits are defined in the operational suitability data established in accordance with Commission Regulation (EU) No 748/2012^[88].