SAR & HHO OPERATIONS ZNES

1. HELICOPTER
RESCUE AREASBased on CAP 437
SAR CAP. Guillermo Sáenz San
Bartolomé

2. AREAS DEDICATED TO
WINCH OPERATIONS
• SPECIFIED ZONE TO RESCUE AREAS:
Dedicated vessel areas with standardized
marks,
• WINCH ZONE
• LANDING ZONE
• NON SPECIFIED ZONE: Areas not
dedicated to Winch Operation are those
areas of the Vessel available to make a
winch that are not marked, such as port-
quarter, wind-bridge, etc.

3. D VALUE
The largest dimension of the helicopter when the rotors are turning

4. WINCH AREAS (SAR & HHO)
• To reduce the risk of a hoist hook or cable
becoming fouled, all guard rails, awnings,
stanchions, antennae and other obstructions
within the vicinity of the maneuvering zone
should, as far as possible, be either removed,
lowered or securely stowed.
• All dominant obstacles within, or adjacent to,
the maneuvering zone should be conspicuously
marked and, for night operations, be adequately
illuminated.

5. LANDING AREA

6. HOISTING OPERATIONS AT NIGHT
• Where hoisting operations to vessels are required
at night, winching area floodlighting should be
provided to illuminate the clear zone and
maneuvering zone areas. Floodlights should be
arranged and adequately shielded so as to avoid
glare to pilots operating in the hover.
• The spectral distribution of winching area
floodlights should be such that the surface and
obstacle markings can be clearly identified. The
floodlighting arrangement should ensure that
shadows are kept to a minimum.

7. PROHIBITED LANDING HEADING MARKING AND
LANDING ON
• Prohibited landing heading sectors
should be marked where it is
necessary to protect the helicopter
from landing or maneuvering in close
proximity to limiting obstructions (Fig
6).
• For certain operational or technical
reasons an installation may have to
prohibit helicopter operations. In such
circumstances, where the helideck
cannot be used, the ‘closed’ state of
the helideck should be indicated by
use of the signal shown in Figure 7.

8. Ship’s Side Non-Purpose-Built
Landing Area Markings
• Consist of a clear zone and a maneuvering zone.
No objects should be located within the clear zone
except aids whose presence is essential for the
safe operation.
• In addition, a maneuvering zone should be
established, where possible, on the main deck of
the ship. The maneuvering zone, intended to
provide the helicopter with an additional degree of
protection to account for rotor overhang beyond
the clear zone, should extend beyond the clear
zone by a minimum of 0.25D.