Common Practice In The Power Utility Industry

The FAA is looking closer at a practice by some helicopter companies engaged primarily in the power utility industry of transporting workers at the end of a long line called Human External Cargo (HEC) operations.

HEC involves a person at the end of a long line under a helicopter for transportation to areas that might otherwise be challenging to reach. Humans can be carried at the end of a long line as a Class B loads under 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 133, according to a report from Vertical magazine.

The FAA sent a statement to the magazine stating that it recently became aware of non-HEC-certified cargo hook kits being used to transport people. Operators are reminded that attaching means such as cargo hooks that are approved for external occupants require documentation in the supplemental type certificate (STC) and/or rotorcraft flight manual supplement (RFMS) that those attaching means meet 14 CFR part 27 or part 29 certification requirements for HEC.

When there is no mention of HEC certification in the STC and/or RFMS, the attaching means may not be used for an external occupant during an operation, unless there is other documentation indicating approval for HEC.

“The FAA must ensure that all HEC operations are conducted with properly certified and approved attaching means,” the statement said. “The HEC design requirements were created to ensure that when a person is carried external to a rotorcraft, the attaching means will not inadvertently release the external occupant. This goal is achieved by increasing the reliability of the static strength and fatigue testing. Operators are strongly encouraged not to conduct HEC operations with attaching means not certificated to the part 27/29 HEC requirements.”

The agency said it plans to issue additional guidance in the "near future".

FMI: Original report