Commission Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 of 5 October 2012 laying down technical requirements and administrative procedures related to air operations pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council (c. 965)

ANNEX V U.K. SPECIFIC APPROVALS[PART-SPA]

[F1 SUBPART K HELICOPTER OFFSHORE OPERATIONS U.K.

SPA.HOFO.165 Additional procedures and equipment for operations in a hostile environment U.K.

(a) Life jackets U.K.

Approved life jackets shall be worn at all times by all persons on board unless integrated survival suits that meet the combined requirement of the survival suit and life jacket are worn.

(b) Survival suits U.K.

All passengers on board shall wear an approved survival suit:

(1)

when the weather report or forecasts available to the commander/pilot-in-command indicate that the sea temperature will be less than plus 10 °C during the flight; or

(2)

when the estimated rescue time exceeds the calculated survival time; or

(3)

when the flight is planned to be conducted at night.

(c) Emergency breathing system U.K.

All persons on board shall carry and be instructed in the use of emergency breathing systems.

(d) Life rafts U.K.

(1) All life rafts carried shall be installed so as to be usable in the sea conditions in which the helicopter's ditching, flotation, and trim characteristics were evaluated for certification. U.K.

(2) All life rafts carried shall be installed so as to facilitate their ready use in an emergency. U.K.

(3) The number of life rafts installed: U.K.

(i)

in the case of a helicopter carrying less than 12 persons, at least one life raft with a rated capacity of not less than the maximum number of persons on board; or

(ii)

in the case of a helicopter carrying more than 11 persons, at least two life rafts, sufficient together to accommodate all persons capable of being carried on board and, if one is lost, the remaining life raft(s) having the overload capacity sufficient to accommodate all persons on the helicopter.

(4) Each life raft shall contain at least one survival emergency locator transmitter (ELT(S)); and U.K.

(5) Each life raft shall contain life-saving equipment, including means of sustaining life, as appropriate to the flight to be undertaken. U.K.

(e) Emergency cabin lighting U.K.

The helicopter shall be equipped with an emergency lighting system with an independent power supply to provide a source of general cabin illumination to facilitate the evacuation of the helicopter.

(f) Automatically deployable emergency locator transmitter (ELT(AD)) U.K.

The helicopter shall be equipped with an ELT(AD) that is capable of transmitting simultaneously on 121,5 MHz and 406 MHz.

(g) Securing of non-jettisonable doors U.K.

Non-jettisonable doors that are designated as ditching emergency exits shall have a means of securing them in the open position so that they do not interfere with the occupants' egress in all sea conditions up to the maximum sea conditions required to be evaluated for ditching and flotation.

(h) Emergency exits and escape hatches U.K.

All emergency exits, including crew emergency exits, and any door, window or other opening suitable to be used for the purpose of underwater escape shall be equipped so as to be operable in an emergency.

(i) Notwithstanding (a), (b) and (c) above the operator may, based on a risk assessment, allow passengers, medically incapacitated at an offshore location, to partly wear or not wear life jackets, survival suits or emergency breathing systems on return flights or flights between offshore locations. ] U.K.

Textual Amendments

F1 Inserted by Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/1199 of 22 July 2016 amending Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 as regards operational approval of performance-based navigation, certification and oversight of data services providers and helicopter offshore operations, and correcting that Regulation.