EMS pilot night minimums

[southernweyr]

Does anyone know about the night minimums? Most ads say they require 100 to 200 hours of night. Is this a pretty hard rule or a little flexible? Also, does it have to be RW time or can it be FW time as well?

[Eggbeater]

From what I've seen; usually the night requirements are not waived. 100 hours of night is the absolute minimum; any higher requirements might be flexible. I'm also pretty sure that all that time has to be in a helicopter; but it might vary depending of the company. I had a friend who had plenty of night time but not enough rotorcraft night time; and he wasn't eligible for the job till he got at least the 100 in a helicopter.

[delorean]

100 hrs of night is a CAMTS minimum (an accreditation that covers about half of HEMS.)

 

For those majors......it is the minimum, no exceptions. Just like 2000 hrs total, 500 turbine, instrument rating, etc.

 

Some states have their own minimums as well. IL, TN, KY to name a few.

[JDHelicopterPilot]

That's right. 100 hours is the CAMTs minimum and thus the minimum for just about every operator. However, most operators are looking for at least 150 hours and some 300 hours and a few 500 hours.

 

This is all to be in a helicopter. Night flying in a helicopter is far different than that in an airplane. Planes land on a nice runway at night. EMS helicopters do not. We get to land in the mist of many obstructions often times using NVGs. A whole different ball game.

 

You will notice as more pilots look for work minimums will go up and vice versa. My company went from 2,500tt and 150 night to 3,000tt and 500 hours of night time in the last year.

 

As Deloren said you may be able to get around some of those numbers based on other factors of your resume and overal interview performance.

 

JD