BRISTOW WORLD

Day in the life of a Bristow helicopterThe day never really begins or ends for a Bristow helicopter. Flying time and essential maintenance consume 24 hours each day. Here’s a typical day at ourAberdeen hub, where Bristow runs more than 130 flights and transfers around 4,400 passengers per week.0400 – 0600After 10 hours of inspections and maintenance carried out by licensedengineers through the night, the helicopters are put through two hours ofextensive pre-flight engineering checks beginning at 4 a.m. before beingmoved from the hangar to their ramp positions in order of departure. Thereare 10 parking spots around the edges of the Aberdeen ramp with three “hotspots” in the middle for the first three flights of the day.To save time and help with on-time departures, fuel levels are set to apre-determined level overnight with the final fuel quantity based on theassigned flight routing. As a result of overnight maintenance, some aircraftmay require a ground run or air test. Helicopters may be tested for severalhours before passengers are allowed to travel on them.With all checks completed and the aircraft now fully fueled, baggage andfreight are loaded. The aircraft starts up and passengers can then embark.0600 – 0700Once the aircraft are in position, ground checks begin. For the crew, thisis the time to conduct their pre-flight checks. They carry out a number ofinspections, functionally test aircraft and flight control systems and look forany obvious external problems before the aircraft is readied for start.0700 – 1900This is the busiest part of the day. As each aircraft returns, a turnaroundcheck is carried out. If the helicopter’s rotors are still running, an engineerwill carry out a series of visual and system checks. If the aircraft is shutdown, another full pre-flight engineering check is always conducted.4 Bristow 4 Bristow World 2008 World / Issue 2012 II / Issue 1