Performance based navigation (PBN) offers potential safety and operational benefits for appropriately equipped helicopters, particularly in helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) operations. Potential benefits include reduced required separation from fixed-wing traffic in dense terminal airspace; low level routes in obstacle-rich environments, resulting in reduced exposure to icing conditions; more efficient terminal routing in crowded or noise-sensitive terminal environments, which is particularly important in HEMS instrument flight rules (IFR) operations; and seamless transitions from en route to terminal airspace.
“It is well known that rotorcraft operations are very sensitive to the meteorological conditions and ice accretion,” says air navigation and air traffic management consultant Marcello Astorri. “The use of PBN operations guarantees to rotorcraft operators a wide array of benefits, including safety performance improvement.” For instance, more precise navigat…
