On Monday 6 April, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued a guidance document for helicopter operators, who are on the front lines in coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.
EASA stresses above all that only flights related to activities identified as essential by national or local authorities (e.g. transfer of pilots at sea, check flights for pipelines and high voltage power lines) should be carried out. The number of people on board must also be limited to the absolute minimum.
The agency also calls on operators to keep the same crews whenever possible and recommends that specific briefings be carried out before each flight, especially when transporting people infected by the COVID-19.
Crew health must be the “first priority of every operator”, the document states.
The separation of the flight crew from passengers and patient as well as the separation of the cockpit and cabin, the wearing of personal protective equipment, the disinfection of life-saving equipment, and the use of air-conditioning systems are specifically recommended.
The EASA also suggests “shutting down the rotors, whenever possible, to reduce the dispersal and circulation of any potential COVID-19 droplets”.
Furthermore, it urges operators to “engage with their maintenance organisations” to ensure that the necessary maintenance operations can be carried out.
The Agency also refers several times in these new guidelines to its ‘Interim guidance on Aircraft Cleaning and Disinfection’, published on 20 March this year, which is based on publications by the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
To consult: - the recommendations on helicopter operations: https://bit.ly/39ROMFC; - the interim guidance on aircraft cleaning: https://bit.ly/3e3OC1t (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)