Jewel Helicopter Landing area

[brunolvr]

Just wondering where the helicopter landing area is on the Jewel. I just heard from someone currently on the Jewel that because of a medical emergency someone had to be airlifted off yesterday. Does anyone know where the helicopter lands?

[FreestyleNovice]

 

"Winch only", helicopters don't like to land on normal ships. No special deck, could be anything in the way (lines, poles, lights, which the cruise crew forgot to take away etc), no trained deck crew, no safety measures, etc.

[brunolvr]

Thanks! so what does "winch only" mean?? :confused:

[FreestyleNovice]

Thanks! so what does "winch only" mean?? :confused:

 

The method where a rescue swimmer (paramedic) is lifted to the ship by a cable winch from the helicopter.

 

The ships heli pad will have a mark of "winch only" for the pilot if it isn't build or intended for landing. The helipad can be too small, the deck could be not strong enough, it than just is a clear and marked pickup point for the helicopter.

 

Some cruise ships can and will receive landing helicopters though. It will not have a marking for winch only in that case.

 

Wether this is done or which other spot is used to decided by the pilot in cooperation with the bridge.

Edited May 27, 2014 by FreestyleNovice

[FreestyleNovice]

From the other end it lookes like this:

 

Coast Guard medevacs woman, 87, from cruise ship Norwegian Breakaway near Ocracoke, NC, Dec. 16, 2013

 

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=227_1387528432

 

Credit; US Coast Guard

[sebas030]

This is a great video, thank you !

 

All health and medical emergency aside,

 

That's one hell of a ship activity :eek: ... forget about parasailing or walking the plank :D which I did at sea on the BA :D

 

Ok back to being serious, thumbs up to those guys and girls who risk their lives to save lives on ships.... hanging from a cable and landing on the bow of the ship must be a challenge like no other...OMG

[vinster42]

We were on that cruise and witnessed the medevac on that video. It was fascinating to watch the precision of the operation. Also comforting to know the brave professionals of the USCG are there in a time of need.

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Forums mobile app

Edited May 27, 2014 by vinster42

[brunolvr]

The method where a rescue swimmer (paramedic) is lifted to the ship by a cable winch from the helicopter.

 

The ships heli pad will have a mark of "winch only" for the pilot if it isn't build or intended for landing. The helipad can be too small, the deck could be not strong enough, it than just is a clear and marked pickup point for the helicopter.

 

Some cruise ships can and will receive landing helicopters though. It will not have a marking for winch only in that case.

 

Wether this is done or which other spot is used to decided by the pilot in cooperation with the bridge.

 

Thank you for educating me on the subject! I do appreciate it!!! :)

[brunolvr]

From the other end it lookes like this:

 

Coast Guard medevacs woman, 87, from cruise ship Norwegian Breakaway near Ocracoke, NC, Dec. 16, 2013

 

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=227_1387528432

 

Credit; US Coast Guard

 

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing!

[Susie51]

Great video thanks for sharing.

[toyotaford]

We are currently on the Jewel in the GV on deck 14. Early Sunday morning we woke up to furniture being moved above us. It was very loud and sounded like it was on our upper patio on deck 15. It was too loud and constant for us to go back to sleep and my husband commented that it must be something important or they wouldn't be doing it this early. In just a few minutes the butler came in and stood in the foyer persistently calling our name until we came out of our bedroom. She told us that there was going to be a medical evacuation by helicopter and we could not go out on our deck until it was over in a couple of hours. In about an hour or so a rescue plane arrived and circled the boat for an hour. The helicopter arrived while I was in the shower but my husband said it flew right past our windows. We could hear the blades and then they would stop and then start up again. They did this 3 or 4 times. The plane was still continuing to circle. Then we heard what we assumed to be the helicopter taking off. We never saw it so we assume it flew off behind us. Once it started to leave we realized there had been a vibration on the roof that now stopped. The rescue plane left once we no longer heard the helicopter. We then heard our patio furniture being moved back in place. My assumption was that the helicopter landed on deck 15 but that is just an assumption. It could have been hovering. We haven't asked or heard any details on the reason for the evacuation.

[meatball_nyc]

That's crazy. Hope the patient is ok.

 

 

~Robin

Norwegian Breakaway July 2014

Carnival Miracle 2010

Carnival Legend 2006

[triptolemus]

My assumption was that the helicopter landed on deck 15 but that is just an assumption It could have been hovering. We haven't asked or heard any details on the reason for the evacuation.

 

The Jewel is not capable of receiving a landing helicopter. As indicated above, the winching area is located on the sports/tennis courts, deck 13, aft. An alternate location is at deck 15, mid, starboard side. I imagine the deck 15 location is somewhat easier to deal with.

 

Edited May 27, 2014 by triptolemus

[chengkp75]

Landing a helicopter on a moving ship is very difficult. In order to keep the helicopter from bouncing off the deck if the ship moves down at the moment of landing, the pilot will effectively "drive" the helo into the deck, and keep down force on the blades, which increases the loading on the deck. For this reason, and others, most cruise ship evacs are done by winch.

 

Another problem with helo operations around ships is that the exhaust from the funnels causes both an updraft that the pilot has to continually fight, and also exhaust gas which is dangerous for the flight crew and the helo's engines. That's why a lot of "helo pads" on cruise ships are on the bow.

 

Again, due to the relative motion of the two (helo and ship), the most dangerous time is when either the patient or the rescue swimmer is close to the deck. This is why you will see the helo approach from the side or stern of the ship, lowering the swimmer, and only get over the deck for the last couple of feet. Similarly when winching up the patient and swimmer. If the patient falls out of the litter, it is much more forgiving to land in the water than on a steel deck.

 

Unless the evac is very close to shore, the USCG will send a C-130 plane to act as backup in case the helo runs into problems. The C-130 will have liferafts to launch, rescue swimmers, and a much longer loiter time should a further rescue be needed.

 

Been involved in a few of these, the USCG flight crews make the very dangerous look surprisingly easy, and do it day in and day out.

[toyotaford]

Four points that can be made to believe the helicopter landed on the ship via the FAA licensed A&P inspector as well as a 6 year Blackhawk crew chief on board with me.

 

There is plenty of room to land the copter on this ship. Using your picture of the ship could google oil rigs and compare landing areas. Some you will find are large and some are very very small.

 

The day of the operation the winds seemed to be to high to perform a winch rescue operation.

 

The ship actually turned off course to meet the direction of the landing helicopters pilot so that the pilot could land the aircraft on the deck. If it were to be a winch rescue there would have been no need to turn the ship off course.

 

And due to the location of our stateroom we definitely know the helicopter completely shut down and after a period of time the aircraft went through its normal start procedure to include engaging APU.

[chengkp75]

Four points that can be made to believe the helicopter landed on the ship via the FAA licensed A&P inspector as well as a 6 year Blackhawk crew chief on board with me.

 

There is plenty of room to land the copter on this ship. Using your picture of the ship could google oil rigs and compare landing areas. Some you will find are large and some are very very small.

 

The day of the operation the winds seemed to be to high to perform a winch rescue operation.

 

The ship actually turned off course to meet the direction of the landing helicopters pilot so that the pilot could land the aircraft on the deck. If it were to be a winch rescue there would have been no need to turn the ship off course.

 

And due to the location of our stateroom we definitely know the helicopter completely shut down and after a period of time the aircraft went through its normal start procedure to include engaging APU.

 

Worked 12 years in the offshore oil fields, and flew many, many helicopters out to rigs. While the decks may appear small, they are arranged so that there are very few obstructions in the perimeter area above the level of the flight deck. Since the aft "H" is marked "winch only", the deck is not designed for landing. The small area on the starboard side may allow small helicopters to land, but the rotor clearance for a Dauphin helicopter (the standard USCG SAR helicopter) would be too large for the surrounding structure, IMHO. A small "lifeflight" helicopter may have been used, but most of those pilots are not trained to land on moving ships.

 

Actually, as I've stated, the exhaust from the funnels is the major hazard for the flight, and by changing the apparent wind (the vector sum of the actual wind and the wind generated by ship's speed) by changing course, you can change the direction that the "smoke" flows from the stack, to take it away from the approach path. Changing course will also allow the Captain to almost eliminate the apparent wind (if the wind is coming from astern, and the wind from the ship's speed is from the bow, they will cancel each other out).

 

Not debating your observations, just pointing out why it generally is not done, and why helicopters generally do not shut down while onboard a ship.

[triptolemus]

The small area on the starboard side may allow small helicopters to land, but the rotor clearance for a Dauphin helicopter (the standard USCG SAR helicopter) would be too large for the surrounding structure, IMHO. A small "lifeflight" helicopter may have been used, but most of those pilots are not trained to land on moving ships.

 

Is that starboard location suitable for any size helicopter to land? The Dauphin would never fit there, but even with a smaller craft, the area certainly doesn't appear to meet the requirements for adjacent obstructions, as well as any other standard related to a LZ (markings, for example). Even a small Robinson R44 (too small for a life flight) has a RD of about 10 meters. In rough numbers, that area looks to be about only 10 to 12 meters square...

Edited May 27, 2014 by triptolemus

[bermuda lover]

Just wondering where the helicopter landing area is on the Jewel. I just heard from someone currently on the Jewel that because of a medical emergency someone had to be airlifted off yesterday. Does anyone know where the helicopter lands?

 

Hi,

My parents so I thought were on the Jewel and got nervous.. so I texted them, they are on the Pearl, but this is where the helicopter took the passenger, she does not know any details.

 

Lisa

[Fishbait17]

On a flight so quick reply. Just got off Jewel GV on Saturday. last time we were on the Jewel, we had a helicopter evac, and it was winch from starboard deck 15 (upper Haven deck area). Was interesting watching them winch up the patient (a young boy with appendicitis), then the family member, then the CG paramedic. We have had two other helicopter evacs on other cruises as well (the Sun and I *think* the Pearl), all done winch style.

 

Robin

[chengkp75]

Is that starboard location suitable for any size helicopter to land? The Dauphin would never fit there, but even with a smaller craft, the area certainly doesn't appear to meet the requirements for adjacent obstructions, as well as any other standard related to a LZ (markings, for example). Even a small Robinson R44 (too small for a life flight) has a RD of about 10 meters. In rough numbers, that area looks to be about only 10 to 12 meters square...

 

Not even sure of that myself, don't know the dimensions, haven't seen it in person, just trying to match things to the PP's audio observations. My thoughts about the apparent noise reduction during what is supposed to be a shutdown, is that the helo would not remain over the ship once the swimmer is down, and would wait a ways away until the patient's condition is analyzed, the swimmer verifies the security of the patient in the stokes litter, and then signals the aircraft that recovery is ready, and the helo will return to hover over the deck. It looks like the starboard location would be preferable in most conditions, since they would have to remove the netting around the aft area to prevent snagging during winching. To be honest, in 40 years at sea, I've never seen a helicopter land on a ship that wasn't designed for regular helicopter operations, with trained deck crew and firefighting appliances installed. Can't say it doesn't happen, I just haven't seen or heard of it, and it isn't that common.

[toyotaford]

Worked 12 years in the offshore oil fields, and flew many, many helicopters out to rigs. While the decks may appear small, they are arranged so that there are very few obstructions in the perimeter area above the level of the flight deck. Since the aft "H" is marked "winch only", the deck is not designed for landing. The small area on the starboard side may allow small helicopters to land, but the rotor clearance for a Dauphin helicopter (the standard USCG SAR helicopter) would be too large for the surrounding structure, IMHO. A small "lifeflight" helicopter may have been used, but most of those pilots are not trained to land on moving ships.

 

Actually, as I've stated, the exhaust from the funnels is the major hazard for the flight, and by changing the apparent wind (the vector sum of the actual wind and the wind generated by ship's speed) by changing course, you can change the direction that the "smoke" flows from the stack, to take it away from the approach path. Changing course will also allow the Captain to almost eliminate the apparent wind (if the wind is coming from astern, and the wind from the ship's speed is from the bow, they will cancel each other out).

 

Not debating your observations, just pointing out why it generally is not done, and why helicopters generally do not shut down while onboard a ship.

I don't think that this would make a difference but the plane that circled was not a USCG plane. It was Canadian marked "Rescue" and "Salvatage" (I think that was the spelling) on the side.

[chengkp75]

I don't think that this would make a difference but the plane that circled was not a USCG plane. It was Canadian marked "Rescue" and "Salvatage" (I think that was the spelling) on the side.

 

Canadian Forces Search and Rescue follow similar procedures to USCG. I'm not sure what helicopters CF uses for SAR, so not sure if one could land on Jewel. Just looked, they use the CH-149 Cormorant (Sea King in US), which would be too large, and the CH-156 Griffon (Bell 212 Huey), which might have fit, rotor diameter of 48 feet. It would have taken steel cojones to land a 212 on that deck from my perspective, but it might not have been that tight.

 

The aircraft would have been a CC-115 Buffalo, which is much smaller than the C-130, and is a STOL plane more suited to rural Canada. The words are "Rescue" and "Sauvetage", which is rescue in French.

Edited May 28, 2014 by chengkp75

[fuggles]

During a Gem cruise in 3/14, a patient was airlifted from the ship while off of NC while returning to NYC. The photo taken from the pool deck shows the copter hovering over the sports court retrieving the rescue swimmer after the patient was lifted.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[Susie51]

My mind is probably playing tricks on me, but while on -X- Infinity I watched a patient rescued by a helicopter. I was in the upper level forward observation lounge by the window. The target marker was on the wide open deck in the front of the ship. As I recall, the helicopter landed on the ship.

 

Is this possible on Infinity?

[chengkp75]

My mind is probably playing tricks on me, but while on -X- Infinity I watched a patient rescued by a helicopter. I was in the upper level forward observation lounge by the window. The target marker was on the wide open deck in the front of the ship. As I recall, the helicopter landed on the ship.

 

Is this possible on Infinity?

 

Looking at photos of Infinity, there are no spare prop blades on the bow, and the helo pad is well forward from the superstructure. A small life flight type helicopter like the EuroCopter 135, with a 33 foot rotor diameter, could probably land there, it would depend on how high the bulwarks are in this area, and the distance of these bulwarks from the center of the circle. These bow landing pads take away the problems of the exhaust funnels, and give the Captain perfect visibility of the flight operations, so he can adjust ship speed and heading to minimize the environmental factors.

 

The general rule is that the painted circle with the "H" is the aiming circle, and the outer circle is the "clear zone" which delineates the maximum rotor diameter that can land there. There can be a further circle marked (not required) that is 130% of the rotor diameter, and vertical obstructions cannot be more than 1.25 meters (4 feet) high at that diameter.