HeliOffshore’s Southeast Asia working group held its latest bi-annual meeting in Bangkok on 12 December. Almost half of the association’s member operators from the region were represented at the event, which was kindly hosted by Thai Aviation Services and its new Operations Managing Director Nirundon Ragan. The meeting was organised by Edwin Soeters, Strategic Planning Director with Kuala Lumpur-based Weststar Aviation Services and co-chair of HeliOffshore’s Safety Enablers workstream.

The group considered draft guidance materials on helideck management for Helicopter Landing Officers (HLOs) that the Southeast Asia group has originated. The document covers topics such as the roles and responsibilities of helideck personnel, HLO tasks, communications procedures, and the handling of passengers, baggage and freight. The draft is now being sent out for peer review by operators and oil companies, and is due for publication during the second quarter of 2018.

Jamie Mitchell, head of search and rescue with Brunei Shell Petroleum, gave an update on the work of the HeliOffshore search and rescue group, which he chairs. There was also an update on the HeliOffshore survivability workstream from one of its co-chairs, David Leithner, who is aviation services manager with Shell Aircraft in Sarawak, Malaysia.

HeliOffshore operations director acknowledged the important role that the Southeast Asia group plays in our collaborative approach to enhancing the safety of offshore helicopter operations. The group, which was formed in 2015, holds conference calls each quarter to coordinate shared work on safety programs.