Enhanced Safety Helidecks

Approved for use in the GoM by USCG The most critical moments of helicopter operation are during landing and takeoff. An accident at either of these stages can result in hundreds of gallons of jet-fuel spilling from ruptured fuel tanks in the belly of the aircraft.

A crash and burn scenario is always a frightening possibility - the intense, fuel-based fire will quickly spread on a flat helideck, making passenger rescue extremely hazardous. Vital time is lost in combating the fire on the helidecks when all attention should be concentrated on the blazing helicopter instead and on getting crew and passengers to safety.

Watch video: A Sea King helicopter crashes and burns on the helideck of a ship in this graphic May 2002 video.

On unmanned platforms, this problem is even more acute as fire-fighting facilities are limited to start with; outside assistance may simply not be available. Civil Aviation Authorities around the world recognize this risk and require extensive fire-fighting and crash safety equipment to be available and positioned around the deck.

Astech® Enhanced Safety Helideck
The Astech® Enhanced Safety helideck was developed to reduce these risks and make passenger safety a top priority. This deck incorporates a patented, passive fire-retarding system which works by allowing burning fuel to pass through densely packed layers of Explosafe® expanded aluminium mesh. The mesh is packed in batts inside the punched heli-decking which comprises the landing surface. A full-perimeter drainage system ensures that liquids are channeled, sub-surface, from heli-decking to drain. Burning fuel is starved of oxygen and rapid heat dissipation occurs in the mesh. The fire is retarded immediately. Spilt fuel is quickly and safely drained away unburned and any remaining vapour burn-off can be extinguished in seconds with minimal water spray. Upto 97% of spilt fuel is recovered unburned.

The Astech® Enhanced Safety helideck has been rigorously tested with actual fire tests in the presence of Det Norske Veritas, Lloyds Register, United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority, various helicopter operators and manufacturers, public safety groups, offshore safety crews, pilots and user bodies.

The deck is currently installed on numerous offshore vessels, FPSOs and drilling platforms, hospitals and other locations. It can be fitted to a new-build structure or retrofitted to existing locations which require additional safety. For retrofitting, the existing steel structure can be utilized to the maximum extent by only laying down the safety decking and drainage system.

The Astech® Enhanced Safety helideck is a fully modular design: the deck is pre-fabricated and shipped to you in containers. Site assembly involves bolting only and can be completed within a couple of weeks. The deck is then installed under our supervision.

Shell Carrack after 4 years (Installed in June 2003)

The UK Civil Aviation Authority recommends enhanced safety (CAP437, Ch 5, para 2.9) using this type of helideck for unmanned platforms and for areas where additional helideck safety may be desired.

This helideck has a subsidiary advantage in reducing bird guano build up on unmanned offshore platforms. Its unique deck surface punch pattern replicates the random walk of large sea-gulls who find it difficult to walk on these decks with webbed feet. Users have reported substantial reduction in bird activity with these decks and birds prefer to roost elsewhere on the platform.