ED Decision 2016/022/R

Helicopter offshore operations

Executive Director Decision 2016/022/R of 6 October 2016 amending Acceptable Means of Compliance and Guidance Material to Definitions, Part-ARO, Part-ORO, Part-CAT, Part-SPA, Part-NCC, Part-NCO and Part-SPO of Regulation (EU) No 965/2012

GM to Definitions — Amendment 5

AMC and GM to Part-ARO — Issue 3, Amendment 4

AMC and GM to Part-ORO — Issue 2, Amendment 9

AMC and GM to Part-CAT — Issue 2, Amendment 8

AMC and GM to Part-SPA — Amendment 4

AMC and GM to Part-NCC — Amendment 7

AMC and GM to Part-NCO — Issue 2, Amendment 4

AMC and GM to Part-SPO — Amendment 7


This Decision addresses the safety risks identified for helicopter offshore operations (HOFO) taking into account new technologies, with a view to establishing a level playing field.

The Decision proposes to introduce acceptable means of compliance (AMC) and guidance material (GM) for helicopter offshore operations conducted as commercial air transport (CAT), specialised (SPO) or non-commercial operations with complex motor-powered aircraft (NCC).

The AMC/GM have been developed taking into consideration the current industry best practices and additional national requirements of certain European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Member States (MSs), which have been notified to EASA in accordance with Article 6 of Regulation (EU) No 965/2012.

Proportionality is ensured by introducing appropriate rules for the different types of operations and by excluding non-commercial operations with other-than-complex motor-powered aircraft (NCO) from the new rules.

The AMC/GM have been modified in accordance with Comment-Response Document (CRD) to Notice of Proposed Amendment (NPA) 2013-10, published on 15 August 2014, in order to reflect the changes to the implementing rules (IRs) proposed by Opinion No 04/2015, published on 22 May 2015, as well as the evolution of the offshore industry.

The most significant changes are related to training alternatives to passenger briefings, airborne radar approaches, and survivability in the event of a helicopter capsize.

These AMC/GM are expected to maintain the high level of safety for HOFO established by the MSs in which most of those operations take place.