The ATSB reminds helicopter operators involved in overwater operations of the importance of undertaking regular Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET) for all crew and regular passengers to increase their survivability in the event of an in-water accident or ditching.
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00:00The Australian Transport Safety Bureau reminds helicopter operators involved in over-water operations
00:05of the importance of undertaking Regular Helicopter Underwater Escape Training, or HEWETT,
00:10for all crew and regular passengers, to increase their survivability in the event of an in-water accident or ditching.
00:16Helicopter crews have credited their surviving a collision with water
00:20with the skills and techniques learned and practised as part of undertaking regular HEWETT.
00:25Following an engine failure, the pilot of a UH-1H helicopter, registered Oscar November Zulu,
00:30used his recent HEWETT competency to escape from his submerged helicopter
00:34when it collided with water during firefighting operations near Eden on the New South Wales far south coast in 2020.
00:41I was just in the hollow with the bucket touching the water.
00:44That's when I got a bit of a growling noise, so I dropped the bucket off and I thought,
00:48something bad's going to happen, which it did, so the engine failed and I was just in dead man's curve.
00:53Down to 100 feet, no airspeed, and flew on the pitch.
00:57So, as helicopters do, it rolled upside down and sank to the bottom.
01:04HEWETT involves a replica of a helicopter cabin being lowered into a swimming pool and rolled, inverted,
01:10to simulate an underwater escape scenario.
01:13During the training, students practise bracing for impact,
01:17identifying primary and secondary exit points and surfacing techniques.
01:22HEWETT training, I'm pretty keen on it.
01:26Without a doubt, it saved my life.
01:29I can remember thinking, oh, I've got this, I've been here before.
01:33One of the things that you don't sort of think about when you do the training, it's all the,
01:37you know, OK, this is where I need to put my hands, this is what I need to do,
01:40but it actually mentally calmed me down.
01:44There was no hint of panic because I knew what I'd been doing,
01:47so I think the mental aspect of having done that training,
01:52apart from what you need to do physically, is pretty important
01:56because it just puts you in a better state of mind to handle it.
02:00I was still in the seat when it hit the bottom.
02:02I waited until everything stopped and completely submerged.
02:06That is part of the training too, is you wait for everything to stop before you get out.
02:10If you get out of your seat before things have stopped crashing,
02:14then you just end up a piece of debris.
02:17In addition to Hewitt, the ATSB is also encouraging all crew
02:21and regular passengers involved in overwater operations to carry on them
02:25an emergency breathing system, or EBS,
02:28to provide further survivability in underwater escape occurrences.
02:32What we've found is having an emergency breathing system,
02:35now he didn't have one in this case, and he's been very fortunate
02:39to get a breath of air from the back of the helicopter,
02:41but we've also re-emphasised that importance,
02:44that that would have given him more time,
02:47and particularly if he hadn't had the presence of mind to find a pocket of air,
02:51the emergency breathing system would have given him more time to get up there as well.
02:55So there's some very important safety lessons,
02:57those to be taken away from the rest of the industry.
03:00Ultimately, whilst it was the loss of the aircraft,
03:04it didn't lead to a loss of life,
03:06which is a great outcome in this particular incident.
03:09Research into helicopter overwater accident survival
03:11consistently reports drowning as the leading cause of fatalities
03:15due to the inability of the occupant to hold their breath long enough to escape.
03:19The ATSB takes this opportunity to reinforce the importance
03:23of having Hewitt training, to having it current,
03:27but also to looking at other safety measures that can aid survival,
03:31and an EBS, an emergency breathing system, is one of those such things,
03:34and that's certainly something that we'll be putting out to industry
03:37and to all of those who fly particularly over water,
03:40and it's something that I know that this particular pilot
03:43and his company are adopting now as a policy for their pilots
03:46to have the training, but to have an EBS.
03:49A number of training organisations provide Hewitt courses around Australia.
03:53In addition, there is a range of EBS options available on the market,
03:57including rebreather, compressed air and hybrid options.
04:01To read the investigation report involving Oscar November Zulu
04:05and to learn more about the importance of Hewitt and EBS,
04:08search for AO-2020-003 on the ATSB's website.
04:14And to read the safety advisory notice for all helicopter operators
04:17engaged in over water operations,
04:20search AO-2018-022-SAN-001.