Roadmap to the future for emergency aircraft

During disasters, equipment and personnel must be deployed quickly and perhaps into areas where conventional infrastructure is unavailable. Aircraft have the greatest potential, yet most aircraft are not suited to emergency usage.

The EU-funded 'Heavy payload helicopter for last mile rescue' (HELI4RESCUE) project set out to advance heavy-payload aircraft for use during emergencies. The five-member group investigated high-capacity vehicles for use by civilian emergency services, with special focus on feeding identified requirements into current or future aircraft development programmes.

Furthermore, the project aimed to develop specifications that will feed in to EU dual usage development programmes, including the European Future Transport or fast Helicopter. Large airships and unpiloted systems were also considered. The project addressed operational needs involving vehicle certification and regulation, and defining interchangeable concepts. HELI4RESCUE ran from August 2012 to June 2014.

Firstly, the group established a 'Collaboration Club', which met six times during the course of the project. As a result of the meetings, two sets of user needs were elaborated and validated. The project also listed and described current potential solutions, in addition to evaluating candidates against three crisis scenarios. Investigation of disaster management situations led to a key project result: a set of civil user requirements.

Researchers examined supply chain scenarios, interoperability and logistics networks; drafts have been prepared for each of the deliverables. Concerning three candidate aircraft types, the project investigated airborne missions under the proposed emergency scenarios. As a result, user requirements were documented.

The project partners prepared a dissemination plan, while outreach work included raising awareness about the undertaking and preparation for future exploitation. A key deliverable was the project video and website.

HELI4RESCUE resulted in specifications being defined for three types of candidate heavy-lifting aircraft. In addition, the economic and operational feasibility of each has been documented to provide cost-effective solutions for civilian disaster response. The vision of the partners for having a European Response Service has also been identified and outlined within the derived roadmap.