Civil SAR Units Fulfil Important Rescue Role

Australian Aviationhad the opportunity in May this year to have an observer participate in a day long SAR exercise over Port Philip Bay, operating out of Moorabbin. Southern Air Services (SAS) operate a suitably equipped Chieftain for this service, with all flying instructors trained for the SAR role.

The operational arrangements currently in place have the CAA Rescue Coordination Centre at Tullamarine direct SAR operations for the Vic/Tas region. Maritime distress calls and SARSAT alerts are monitored and handled by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which assesses these and then forwards them to the RCC, which may also receive aviation distress calls or ELT alerts from the CAA.

On receipt of an alert the RCC’s Senior Operations Controller (SOC) will immediately assess the severity of the situation and review available resources for the search, ie which aircraft may be used at that time. A plan specific to the situation is then drafted and typically it will be a variation on one of several basic types of SAR operation. At this point an Air Search Briefing will be faxed to the CSUs which are to participate and this document details the search area, search patterns, speeds, altitudes, track spacings and other vital parameters.

When the CSU receives its callout, staff will immediately proceed to remove the doors from the SAR aircraft, preflight it and load the SAR equipment onboard if applicable; SAS are apparently one of the few CSUs which have their SAR aircraft permanently fuelled and loaded with SAR equipment to reduce time to departure. The tower and FSU will typically have a standing procedure for SAR departures and the pilot in command of the SAR aircraft will usually notify the tower of specific details while taxiing out. Typically times to departure do not exceed 20 minutes and in some instances, where staff are on site and the aircraft is ready, much shorter times have been achieved.

The Chieftain operates with a four man crew on SAR operations, two pilots, a dropmaster and a despatcher, all of whom have specific tasks to perform. The SAR specific payload varies, but in most common maritime scenarios inflatable rafts, Marine Supply Containers (MSC) containing emergency supplies or emergency pumps are carried. These are strapped down in the rear of the aircraft, where the dropmaster and despatcher are tethered to hardpoints. SAS’s Chieftain VH-FDF is one of the best SAR equipped aircraft in its class in Australia, with a comprehensive range of communication devices, navigation aids and dedicated SAR equipment installed.

In a typical situation the aircraft, upon locating the vessel in distress or floating survivors, will fly a low 200ft pass and immediately mark the location with an orange smoke buoy, after which it will position itself to drop a Mk. 25 white phosphorus marker buoy as close to the target as possible. The smoke buoy is usually accompanied by a SAR datum buoy transmitting on a discrete frequency, a green sea marker dye bomb and if visibility is poor a See Blitz battery powered strobe light buoy. The white phosphorus buoy burns brightly for visibility under poor light conditions and provides a smoke trail equivalent to a wind sock.

Once this is done, the aircraft will position itself for a life raft drop. This is done by overflying the target into the wind and then turning through 270 degrees to fly a crosswind pass abeam the target during which two orange smoke buoys are dropped, 3 and 13 seconds past the target. The orange buoys are used as visual cues for the drop of the life rafts.

After the orange smoke is deployed, the aircraft will execute a 180 degree turn for a crosswind delivery pass upwind of the target. Using the orange smoke to line up for the pass, the pilot will call out times to the drop and the drop itself, this requiring considerable experience for accurate delivery. Prior to this the despatcher and loadmaster will have positioned the two liferafts and two supply MSCs at the door of the aircraft. On the drop command these are pushed out of the door. The rafts and MSCs are tethered together to form a raft-rope-MSC-rope-MSC-roperaft arrangement which is intended to straddle the target upwind. The rubber rafts inflate on descent. The string of rafts and MSCs then drifts downwind with the rope snagging the target, at which point the survivors may haul in the MSCs and rafts. The MSCs contain food, water, medical supplies, thermal bags and a radio.

Alternate drops include cardboard heliboxes or a PAIDS high capacity portable pump. Pump deliveries require a very different delivery profile, where the target is overflown in a direct upwind/ downwind pass at 100ft. The 60kg pump is retarded by a drogue chute and as it falls, unwinds a 220 metre rope attached to a plastic cowl tethered to the aircraft. Once the rope is payed out fully, It separates from the aircraft, falling across the target vessel. The crew of the stricken vessel may then haul the pump in for use.

The Chieftain is flown at 2,200rpm/25in, 10 degree flap at an IAS of 110-115kt. Under these conditions the aircraft is a smooth and stable delivery platform with a respectable turn rate. Australian Aviation had the opportunity to observe several drops both from a rear observer’s seat and the RHS cockpit position and it was quite clear that considerable skill is required for repeatable and consistently accurate deliveries, particularly with stronger wind conditions.

T he CSUs make a very valuable contribution to Australian SAR operations by providing both the service and the opportunity to develop a skills base in the GA community. We can hope that in the future the CAA will continue to fund this program and maintain a sufficient frequency of training exercises to keep aircrew proficiency up.