Research on Pilot Assistance for Rotorcraft

The number of accidents with helicopters especially in Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) operation has become a matter of fact. NTSB has stated "that a concerted effort must be made to improve the safety of emergency medical services flights". On the other hand helicopter operators would like to extend their operation time and perform also flights in bad-weather conditions. Both factors, the need for an increase of flight safety and the extension of operation time, require help for the pilot from system side. For this reason, the research target of PILAS is to improve situation awareness of the pilot. PILAS helps the pilot to plan routes considering all external and internal constraints. It monitors the routes continuously during the mission against all hazards like terrain, obstacles, bad weather areas, air traffic and closed air spaces. PILAS projects the actual situation of the helicopter into the future and proposes alternate solutions to avoid future hazardous situations. PILAS assists the pilot during all phases of the mission.