We see them every day: helicopters fighting wildfires, directing police actions, rescuing injured hikers on a mountain or sailors from a storm-tossed ship; perhaps securing an international border or even assisting with a large construction or logging operation. These events have become so commonplace that we hardly notice them. Things that even Igor Sikorsky never imagined possible, we’ve come to expect as a matter of routine. Today, special missions teams live by the adage: “The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer.”

But how did we get here? What has transpired within the helicopter community in recent years to transform yesterday’s impossible mission into today’s business as usual? Underlying every special mission is a thorough understanding of fundamentals – the physics and aerodynamics of flight, augmented by practice to develop and hone skill sets and judgment. While the circumstances may vary significantly from one mission to another, the fundamentals do not change.

The big picture

No pilot or crewmember starts with special missions. They complete flight training either with the military or with a commercial flight school where they learn the basics. But just as a Navy pilot is not ready to fly the latest fighter jet immediately after getting their wings, no helicopter pilot, whatever their training background, is prepared to fly into a wildfire, conduct an alpine rescue at high altitude or perform any of a whole host of other special missions without significant additional training. How do pilots and aircrew get such training? Who provides it and who sets the standards?

Although the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), International Air Transport Association (IATA), and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) all purport to regulate aviation operations, none prescribe anything more than loose guidelines for agencies that carry out special missions. Part 133 of the Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) governs most US helicopter agencies and establishes the criteria for hoisting external loads, towing, winching, sling loads, rappelling – in essence, virtually everything that special mission crews do. These requirements are very general and afford operators broad discretion in their application. Incidentally, for many operators, a major challenge associated with obtaining a Part 133 certificate is the shortage of inspectors qualified to authorize these certificates. Some operators have waited as long as three years to complete this process.

Neither the FAA nor its international counterparts regulate aircrew training. That is the responsibility of the certificate holders.

Increasingly, even the military and other large agencies look to specialists like our company to train at least some of their pilots and aircrew for the ever-expanding variety of special missions they are called upon to execute

Only very large operations – the military and federal and state agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the US Forest Service, US Border Patrol and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) – have the financial and personnel resources needed to provide specialized training. Smaller organizations and agencies – local police and fire departments, search and rescue teams and medevac operations – rely on private companies like Priority 1 Air Rescue (Mesa, Arizona, and Bordeaux, France), Air Rescue Systems (Ashland, Oregon), Volo Mission (Campbell, Texas) and Coptersafety (Vantaa, Finland).

Each of these companies specializes in helping clients holistically, guiding them from where they are to where they want to be from a mission capability and performance standpoint. Clients can
select a training program at the company’s facility or have a training team travel to their site. Programs can range in length from one day to several months, but all include ground school as well airborne practical components.

Charley Shimanski, the Director of Training at Air Rescue Systems, noted: “Increasingly, even the military and other large agencies look to specialists like our company to train at least some of their pilots and aircrew for the ever-expanding variety of special missions they are called upon to execute. After we finish training them, the graduates from programs large and small share what they’ve learned as the ‘in-house’ experts. We make ourselves available for follow-on training as needed to maintain currency.”

The fundamentals that make missions special

Romantic notions of flying aside, training special mission pilots and aircrew focuses primarily upon fundamentals. In the ground school phase, training schools emphasize the ‘absolutes’, the physics and aerodynamics applicable to the aircraft and equipment that the students will be using. Communication procedures and planning are also covered thoroughly during the first stage of training.

The absolutes

As the students move into the practical or flying stage, the emphasis shifts to skills development and practice. This is where the students learn lift, hoist, tow, pickup and delivery of loads ranging from injured people to thousands of gallons of water. Their training covers everything that they will be expected to do on an actual mission. The students practice with every type of equipment they will have to use, over similar terrain and at comparable altitudes. While it is not possible to simulate all the conditions that a special mission will encounter, these training companies pride themselves on making their students’ experiences as realistic as possible.

According to Brad Matheson, President of Priority 1 Air Rescue, no special mission should ever proceed without first calculating the ‘absolutes’ – the aircraft’s performance capabilities: maximum speed, altitude, endurance and load capacity.

Bob Cockell, President of Air Rescue Systems concurs, observing: “These absolutes also apply to the mission-essential equipment onboard – hoists, rescue devices, buckets, etc.” Understanding these factors allows aircrews to “articulate the go / no go equation, to eliminate guesswork and manage risks based on absolutes”.

Students must also know the aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft they are flying as well as those of anything the aircraft will lift or tow

Students must also know the aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft they are flying as well as those of anything the aircraft will lift or tow. Different helicopters generate different air flows with their rotors, the rotor wash. Aircrews must account for these differences when picking up people or equipment.

Helicopters lose efficiency at higher altitudes; they become sluggish and more difficult to hover in place. Most alpine rescues and many wildfires take place at higher elevations and over treacherous terrain. Students are trained to operate in these conditions.

Communication

Special missions are team efforts: the team on the aircraft as well as other teams on the ground, in other aircraft, sometimes even the persons being rescued. For a mission to succeed, these teams must work together and coordinate their efforts. Clear and timely communication is essential to this process. Students not only learn efficient communication techniques and protocols, but they are also introduced to state-of-the-art communications equipment such as the Axnes closed-loop system, which allows everyone involved in a mission to talk ‘live’ 100% of the time with all outside noise filtered out.

Students not only learn efficient communication techniques and protocols, but they are also introduced to state-of-the-art communications equipment

Students are taught that nothing is more important during an active mission than accurate status updates. They learn how to communicate this information effectively no matter what  circumstances they encounter.

Plans must be flexible

Andre Hutchings of Volo Mission echoed boxer Mike Tyson’s famous comment that plans go out the window when you “get punched in the mouth”. Consequently, Hutchings trains his students to expect that punch, i.e. to recognize that few missions ever go smoothly: “They must anticipate that anything that can go wrong likely will, plan accordingly and remain flexible.” With the majority of Part 133 operations conducted within the height velocity diagram, he wants them always to anticipate the worst case and plan for it.

Matheson challenges his students to find ways not to use their skills. He cautioned: “They must understand that just because something can be done does not always mean that it should be done. Whenever feasible, the simple safe plan should be favored over a difficult and risky one.”

Practice builds skill and confidence

No training company will risk its aircraft and personnel by flying into the dangerous conditions that special missions aircrews routinely encounter. They compensate for this omission with practice missions designed to simulate as accurately as possible the challenges they will face when it’s not a practice. Students practice everything they will be called upon to do. Aircraft emergencies and equipment failures are simulated. As students master these challenges, they build self-confidence and trust in each other.

Commercial flight simulators provide opportunities to practice procedures, however, as Mikko Kallio, Head of Training at Coptersafety, observed: “[These simulators] are not yet equipped like special mission aircraft. The don’t have a rear crew seat or a task specialist position.” Consequently, mission simulations typically are conducted in the air.

Virtual reality technology may enhance practice options in the future, but for the present, training and practice is accomplished in real aircraft with whole crews.

There is no substitute for judgment and experience

The final stage of their preparation can be completed only after they start flying ‘live’ missions

The best efforts of these training companies can take students only so far. As skilled and as knowledgeable as they have become, the final stage of their preparation can be completed only after they start flying ‘live’ missions. Only through actual experience can a pilot or aircrew appreciate the ‘big picture’ – how many variables determine the success or failure of any mission, and why every decision must be justified by the fundamentals and not by emotions or gut feelings.

Newly trained pilots and aircrew personnel are not usually thrust immediately into the opportunity to learn from more experienced counterparts. Through observation and interaction, they learn to apply their knowledge and training in the ways best suited to their capabilities.

It has been said that good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment. Special mission aircrews acknowledge the truth in that adage but recognize that the experience derived from bad judgment need not be their own. They apply the experience of others to hone their own judgment during each mission they fly.

Training to be safe

As intimidating and complex as special missions may appear, when distilled to their essence, they are simply the end products of a series of fundamental calculations based upon scientifically reliable principles. While Hollywood may glorify the heroic aircrews who fly into the teeth of a fire or mountain storm to rescue injured firefighters or climbers, the professionals who actually carry out special missions like that are far more likely to celebrate their colleagues who accomplish the rescues without placing anyone or anything in jeopardy.

As intimidating and complex as special missions may appear, when distilled to their essence, they are simply the end products of a series of fundamental calculations based upon scientifically reliable principles

Special missions are exercises in number crunching. Do the physics, the absolutes, justify moving forward? Are the helicopter and its equipment equal to the task that must be performed? Does it have enough power, and the proper equipment? How will altitude and environmental conditions such as wind and weather impact the mission? Does the crew have experience with a mission like this? And perhaps the most important consideration of all, is there a safer and simpler alternative to what has been proposed?

By approaching every potential mission with this mindset, pilots and aircrews have transformed yesterday’s impossible challenges into today’s business as usual. As for tomorrow, there are no limits to what might be possible.