has anyone ever done a helicopter safety briefing?

[FlyingRedneck 0]

hello, myself and a bunch of other jumpers plan on making a chopper jump next sunday. none of us have ever made a jump from one yet. (yes there will be plenty of beer afterwards). One of our head instructors wants us to write up a draft of a safety briefing that we will have amongst ourselves before the jump. He wants to also see it.. so in an effort to do as we are asked, ive done a little bit of searching on here with no real benefit. so far i have very few things.. approach the aircraft from the front, dont push off of the aircraft on exit, just step or fall off. watch exit seperation as there is very little horizontal. any advice would be excellent. thanks!!

[bigway 4]

dont jump up.
attatch seatbelt to rig.
release seatbelt at 1000ft

.Karnage Krew Gear Store
.

[Sled14 0]

The only thing I was told was not to push off, just fall off.

[shermanator 4]

very VERY important.. ...



Have fun!

CLICK HERE! new blog posted 9/21/08
CSA #720

[jheadley 0]

What about proper exit separation?

[NWFlyer 2]

Talk to the pilot about weight and balance and if he/she would like jumpers to exit in a particular order to assist in maintaining a balanced load. Also ask the pilot to brief you on aircraft emergencies and how procedures may (or may not) be different.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[billvon 2,990]

Go over exit signals/emergency communication if you cannot see the pilot (i.e. in a Sikorsky S-58.)

Go over exit sequencing for weight and balance.

Go over spotting; make sure pilots and jumpers are in agreement in terms of who spots and who checks for traffic before exit.

Make sure you understand exit separation. If exiting from a hover, either go as one group or assign tracking directions (and track a _long_ time.)

If the door will remain open, ensure seatbelts come off and are stowed immediately at 1000 feet. Discuss procedures for premature deployment below 1000 feet. (There aren't a lot of good option there; prevention via good pin checks/good gear maintenance is even more critical.)

[NickDG 23]

Approach a helicopter from the front, not the tail, like you do when boarding an airplane . . .

NickD BASE 194

[GPSJane 0]

Usually on exit, if you have a group of people (even just 2) you have to exit evenly from opposite sides to keep the balance or the chopper will stall.

We jumped out a Huey here the other day which rocked :) Have fun.

Only skydivers know why the birds sing; they don't have to pack a parachute!

[Peter_ru 0]

Hey!

We're jumping from Mi-8 helicopter (links below), exit both from side and back.

Rules are generally the same as for any other aircraft:

1. Stay seated and wear your helmet below 300m.
2. Even weight distribution must be observed.
3. Walk in front of helicopter and beside the plane.
4. Stay away from chassis when separating from fuel tank.
5. Other: emergency exit altitudes, signals for separation and so on.

http://www.aerograd.ru/photo.html?gid=64&pid=32
http://www.aerograd.ru/photo.html?gid=64&pid=136

[kenneth21441 0]

approach from a 45 degree angle from the front.do not enter from the rear of the a/c. nor the front due to some models the blades tilt down low. Keep you hands over your ripcord/ handles to prevent being sucked up.


When landing and the a/c is on the ground do not land near the A/c... land away from it...

Kenneth Potter
FAA Senior Parachute Rigger
Tactical Delivery Instructor (Jeddah, KSA)
FFL Gunsmith

[dropoutdave 0]

Quote

Keep you hands over your ripcord/ handles to prevent being sucked up.

I think that might be being a bit over cautious. The down draft from chopper rotors are minimal in comparison to what the rig endures in freefall.

------------------------------------------------------
May Contain Nut traces......

[kenneth21441 0]

That is the way I was trained.

Kenneth Potter
FAA Senior Parachute Rigger
Tactical Delivery Instructor (Jeddah, KSA)
FFL Gunsmith

[pilotdave 0]

Don't touch anything that moves. Don't plan to be in control for your first few seconds of freefall, so make sure you're getting enough altitude to get stable and track away from the rest of your group.

Dave

[robskydiv 0]

Yes, many times... (Fire extinguishers are for people, not equipment, etc...

[matthewcline 0]

This is the military briefing I use (I have ~1000 Helo jumps)

It is a little bit detailed;

No none loads till manifested, safety briefed and a gear check is done.
Know the release point.
Don't approach the A/C till Crew Chief or Pilot signals.
Approach A/C from appropriate safe zone (UH series 90 degrees from side, CH series from aft, keep in mind the tail rotor side on the 53)
Sit in assigned seat and buckle up.
1000' AGL unbuckle and do an AAD and PIN Check.
DISTANCE makes separation, use appropriate separation between groups.
The JM in charge of the load, is in charge, take all commands from JM.
Emergency exits, clear and deploy immediately, do not delay! The helo could use all the air space below you to land safe and allow you to avoid it!
When hanging out side the UH-60 keep hand out of the intake and off the APU.
No jumping from the Gunners seats.
Open doors in a hover unless it is a tail gate.
Min exit ALT 2000' AGL
Min Opening ALT 2000' AGL
Min Break Off 1500' above highest deploying Parachute.
Min Tandem Exit 7500' (Non TI passenger) 5000' TI Passenger.
Min CRW Docking 2000' AGl
Min CRW Down Plane Break Off 500'
Land Standing up, on Target.

Matt

An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

[pilotdave 0]

Quote

keep in mind the tail rotor side on the 53

For what? I don't think I could reach that tail rotor if I jumped while wearing stilts.

Dave

[matthewcline 0]

The Navy insists. SEALs are super human you know and could stop that tail rotor with a pinky finger
It is an "all inclusive" brief and has a few items that probably wont happen, but you never know.

Matt

An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

[Lastchance 0]

Great info. I will be doing some chopper jumps starting in May and was going to ask some of these same questions. Turns out that my dentist has and flies 2 choppers. Not sure what as of yet, but 5 and 7 passenger. Is there any other pertinant info that I should. get for him as I don't believe that he has ever dropped jumpers from the helicopters before.

I may be getting old but I got to see all the cool bands.

[riggerrob 643]

The direction - that you approach a helicopter - depends upon where the door/ramp is.

If doors are on the side: Huey, Blackhawk, Jet Ranger, Puma, and most civilian helicopters: stand in front of the helicopter and wait until the pilot waves you in.

It it has a ramp under the tail: Sikorsky Jolly Green Giant, Chinook, Cormorant, Merlin and most Russian Air-Force surplus helicopters, approach from the rear and wait until the loadmaster waves you to board.