Weight and Fuel Management
Weight and fuel management obviously depend on the circumstances surrounding a mission. Flying at sea level versus high altitude can have different effects on power margins and, as such, planning for each will require different approaches.
When determining the preflight fuel load for higher altitude cases, pilots should be cautious of the Coast Guard MH60T community’s tendency to take on excess fuel (e.g., taking 5500 lbs. to maximize search/on scene time can result in power limitations when the helicopter needs to get slow, at altitude, to search in and among terrain and obstacles). Likewise, pilots should not hesitate to jettison fuel, particularly for safety of flight or when saving a life.
Furthermore, if the power margin will be tight, consider leaving behind nonessential gear crews typically fly with at sea level. For example, examine the standard SAR load: the dewatering pump is heavy and unnecessary, and although great survival shelters, rafts, as well as pax PFDs, are not required inland. Contrary to the sea level MH60T flying community which rarely needs to de-fuel, take less gear, dump gas on scene or carefully calculate bingo, such measures are crucial to successfully executing some high altitude cases.
Fuel dump: Although fuel dump is a procedure that pilots with a sea level flying mentality are hesitant to employ, in cases where saving a life is probable, dumping gas is absolutely justified. When commencing a fuel dump, I always perform an additional step not delineated in the procedure. After initiating the fuel dump, stop well before the ideal fuel capacity. Just like testing the fuel transfer before proceeding offshore, a quick start and stop of the fuel dump ensures the equipment is functioning properly. If, in the remote chance it does not stop during the quick check, a pilot has plenty of time to pull the fuel dump circuit breakers, leaving the fuel level at or above what was intended (rather than significantly less had the pilot not recognized the malfunction until the intended fuel level had been reached). Even though the system has proven to be reliable (except in the simulator where fuel never stops dumping when you secure the dump!), the technique of a quick start and stop provides additional confidence. Another technique that has provided crews with piece of mind is putting the EOIR on the dump tube, allowing crews to visually monitor the start and stop of fuel jettisoning.
Fuel dump and environmental impacts: The Coast Guard aviation community tends to over emphasize the negative impacts of jettisoning fuel. On a mission in which circumstances warrant the jettison of fuel, crews should absolutely try to remain over an unpopulated area and get as high as possible (fuel jettisoned at altitude – between 2000’- 4000’ AGL depending on your reference – atomizes and never touches the ground or water). However, if circumstances do not permit this high of an AGL altitude, and dumping fuel is necessary to save a life or for safety of flight, environmental impacts are low. I like to share a news report about a commercial flight that dumped 15-20,000 gallons of fuel at about 1500-2000 AGL, while returning to LAX after a compressor stall. The fuel landed on five school playgrounds with 56 kids and adults suffering minor skin and lung irritations, potentially resulting in one of the worst-case fuel dump scenarios to study. Despite the commercial passenger airplane jettisoning fuel at a much higher rate and about 10 times greater volume than a MH60T would, even at a low altitude and over a very populated area the dispersed fuel did not do any permanent harm.