Disaster Evacuation program

[mausermolt]

My employer asked me today if i knew anything about how companies dealt with disaster evacuation.

 

.....well i had no freaking idea, nor did google.

 

im looking for some sort of idea how companies that offer evacuation to citizens after a disaster (security issues, hurricane, flooding, earthquake, insert other form of divine punishment)

 

just for a little context: we are a 1 bird 135(type) operation, (the only certified commercial helicopter in this country actually) not set up or capable of taking medical patients, and we arent in the US.

 

does anyone even do anything like this in the states?

 

my first thought was "well usually the National Guard or the Coast Guard usually takes care of that" but in this country...we dont have any of those luxuries.

 

thoughts?

[JDHelicopterPilot]

I don't know if you operate under the FARs or another such as the JARs but I would start there. You might after that check with the local authorities such as Police/Fire and maybe set up a contract of sorts for such operations.

 

In the States the Guard, Military and Coast Guard will handle that. There are a few private SAR companies but they are set up to do SAR/EMS. It sounds in your case you are not.

[mausermolt]

Yes we are under the FAR's. and the Police/Fire.....I dont think any of them will be any help. they barely have money to pay their officers, let alone a helicopter. thanks for the info JD. i figured i was on my own here

[Gomer Pylot]

I'm not aware of any such programs in the US. Maybe they exist, but I've never heard of any. Trying to make money off a disaster isn't going to make any company popular, nor profitable in the long run. And trying to evacuate large numbers of people in one helicopter is likely to be difficult and probably unsuccessful. The only situations where helicopters make sense for this are those where no other vehicle can be used. Anything else is likely to work better. Large-scale flooding may be one exception, but boats generally work better, even though they're much slower. Without a hoist, helicopters are pretty much useless for rescues, and for evacuation speed isn't really the issue, it's load capacity.

[mausermolt]

i hate to say it but the clientele for this type of operation in this area would only be about 50 people. 99.99% of the population can barely feed themselves, let alone rent a helicopter to GTFO of dodge. so im not worried about trying to evac 100 people in an hour. I think more like 20 people in a day would be more realistic

[McGavin]

I don't think I'm much of a help, but I fly for a corporate owner and we have a basic evac plan in case of an emergency. The most likely foreseeable disasters in our area would be Earthquake, Tsunami or civil unrest. Most of it is just being on the same page in the event of a disaster where the helicopter would be needed. I think the plan is more of a gimmick

 

Are you talking about charging "the rich" for a "insurance policy" in the event they need air evac?

[mausermolt]

McGavin, I think that is exactly what they are looking for. You have any more details for me?

[McGavin]

Take free advice for what it's worth...I'm not aware of anyone currently offering this service, but think it could work in the right location. I dont feel you will ever be able to operate under "special use", so basically you are pre-charging for a charter flight that will probably never happen. You will need to be a part 135 operation to legally do this.

 

I feel the actual value is in the contract and evac plan. You will need to layout the terms that qualify the need for a evac. The plan can be as simple as a 2 passengers transport from airport A to airport B. A much more complicated plan could include "bugout kits", offsite LZs, armed dignitary protection and supply caches. I would consult with some type of military professional to do the latter.

[mausermolt]

Im just trying to get ideas right now. remember this is not in the USA. Im operating under Haitian Aviation regulations as a 135 "type" operator. thank you for your input. but at the moment i think the company isnt well enough equipped for such an operation.