Pilot shortage grounds Westpac (Lismore) rescue chopper
Pilot shortage grounds Westpac (Lismore) rescue chopper
Shortage grounds chopper | Lismore News | Local News in Lismore | Northern Star
A PILOT shortage grounded the Westpac Rescue Life Saver Helicopter on Friday while a tourist needed rescuing at Whian Whian Falls, Dunoon.
A back-up helicopter from the Gold Coast was sent to the rescue instead, however by the time that helicopter arrived, the Canadian man, who had back flipped off the falls and collided with another swimmer, had received CPR and regained consciousness and was transferred by road ambulance to Lismore Base Hospital.
Friday's pilot shortage is the second time the Westpac Life Saver Helicopter has been grounded in the past month after a pilot resigned last month with no replacement expected for two weeks said chief crewperson Roger Fry.
"We've been operating on a three-pilot roster system since mid-October," Mr Fry said.
Under that roster, pilots work 48 hours straight, living and sleeping on base, then have 48 hours leave, then are on call for the next 48 hours Mr Fry said.
"We normally have a four-pilot roster, so there is the potential for fatigue limitations with the three-pilot roster," he said.
"On Friday one of those three pilots was ill and because of fatigue issues we did not have another pilot on standby," he said.
When the Lismore helicopter is unavailable, using a rescue service from either Tamworth or south-east Queensland could add 20-35 minutes to the response time, depending on the location of the emergency, Mr Fry said.
"It's not an ideal situation," he said.
Finding a properly-trained replacement pilot was a top priority for the service.
"At the end of the day it comes down to funding," Mr Fry said.
The special training of a pilot to the level needed can cost as much as $100,000 before wages are even applied Mr Fry said.
Having four pilots was the optimum situation Mr Fry said; however with additional funding the service would welcome having six pilots in the team.
"We would like to work towards having four pilots and a chief and deputy pilot permanently stationed here," he said.
"Extra funding would assist us and we are looking at increasing our crew to six."
A back-up helicopter from the Gold Coast was sent to the rescue instead, however by the time that helicopter arrived, the Canadian man, who had back flipped off the falls and collided with another swimmer, had received CPR and regained consciousness and was transferred by road ambulance to Lismore Base Hospital.
Friday's pilot shortage is the second time the Westpac Life Saver Helicopter has been grounded in the past month after a pilot resigned last month with no replacement expected for two weeks said chief crewperson Roger Fry.
"We've been operating on a three-pilot roster system since mid-October," Mr Fry said.
Under that roster, pilots work 48 hours straight, living and sleeping on base, then have 48 hours leave, then are on call for the next 48 hours Mr Fry said.
"We normally have a four-pilot roster, so there is the potential for fatigue limitations with the three-pilot roster," he said.
"On Friday one of those three pilots was ill and because of fatigue issues we did not have another pilot on standby," he said.
When the Lismore helicopter is unavailable, using a rescue service from either Tamworth or south-east Queensland could add 20-35 minutes to the response time, depending on the location of the emergency, Mr Fry said.
"It's not an ideal situation," he said.
Finding a properly-trained replacement pilot was a top priority for the service.
"At the end of the day it comes down to funding," Mr Fry said.
The special training of a pilot to the level needed can cost as much as $100,000 before wages are even applied Mr Fry said.
Having four pilots was the optimum situation Mr Fry said; however with additional funding the service would welcome having six pilots in the team.
"We would like to work towards having four pilots and a chief and deputy pilot permanently stationed here," he said.
"Extra funding would assist us and we are looking at increasing our crew to six."
Join Date: Jul 2003
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it seems to me over the years that there is just about a permanent advertisement in the friday australian for pilots at lismore base.
you could perhaps conclude that pilots use the facility for the free specialised training they get, ($100,000.???) with no intention of staying for any length of time. maybe they should have default contracts to at least recoup their hard to get funding from this possibility.
you could perhaps conclude that pilots use the facility for the free specialised training they get, ($100,000.???) with no intention of staying for any length of time. maybe they should have default contracts to at least recoup their hard to get funding from this possibility.
One thing I have never quite understood (and I'm happy to be corrected here) is why the govt puts in any funding for community resuce helicopters whatsoever. ie are there any KPI's or damages attached to the funding should the community rescue helicopter not be able to deliver?
I'm all for the establishment of rescue bases, but the govt is getting a free ride from not for profit organisations. If there is a proven need for a rescue base somewhere, why not have it fully funded to a contract operator (not for profit or commercial company alike) with all the KPI's, damages etc that go with it? That way the end user (community/public) doesn't suffer in instances mentioned in the above news article.
I'm all for the establishment of rescue bases, but the govt is getting a free ride from not for profit organisations. If there is a proven need for a rescue base somewhere, why not have it fully funded to a contract operator (not for profit or commercial company alike) with all the KPI's, damages etc that go with it? That way the end user (community/public) doesn't suffer in instances mentioned in the above news article.
One thing I have never quite understood (and I'm happy to be corrected here) is why the govt puts in any funding for community resuce helicopters whatsoever. ie are there any KPI's or damages attached to the funding should the community rescue helicopter not be able to deliver?
Do the government rescue guys have KPIs
So far as the government getting a free ride from community providers I tend to agree somewhat. The government does get very good value for money (a twin IFR machine with NVG these days) so why would you pay big bucks for a service when you can get a service which is just as capable for a fraction of the cost? I don't agree but thats the way it is. So far as establishing a need for a service, it is often the community providers that take a bight of the poo sandwich and go it alone in order to prove the need for a service (I use TWB as example which has turned out to be one of the busiest bases around) - what commercial operator would do that for nothing?
Anyway, my two bobs.
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An excellent two bobs worth Turkeyslapper. IMHO Australia has the best HEMS network in the world. Multi-role, winch equipped, IFR, 24 hour, NVG, GNSS approaches at hospitals, well-equipped modern, medium sized machines with well-trained and motivated crews and a balance of State and individual/corporate sponsorship. Works very well.
The other two ends of the spectrum seem to be USA where competing hospitals operate single-engine VFR machines which seem to regularly fly into hillsides at night trying to maintain VMC and UK where very few HEMS operators can actually fly on NVG, IFR or even at night, no GNSS hopital approaches with very little state assistance or corporate sponsorship. But they do have military Seakings and Coastguard S-92's flying single patient hospital transfers!
The other two ends of the spectrum seem to be USA where competing hospitals operate single-engine VFR machines which seem to regularly fly into hillsides at night trying to maintain VMC and UK where very few HEMS operators can actually fly on NVG, IFR or even at night, no GNSS hopital approaches with very little state assistance or corporate sponsorship. But they do have military Seakings and Coastguard S-92's flying single patient hospital transfers!
Last edited by Epiphany; 24th Nov 2011 at 10:05.
