Human External Cargo (HEC) and Non-Human External Cargo (NHEC) missions have significantly increased over the past few years. Power line repair and maintenance, forestry, military, and public safety/rescue are just a few industries that have incorporated HEC missions into their routine operations.
We have supported several hardware development programs to certify products and systems for HEC and NHEC missions on a wide variety of helicopter platforms. We performed the airworthiness substantiation analysis on several components associated with a typical HEC/NHEC mission, including a wide range of lifting devices, cargo hook beams and aircraft interfaces, and synthetic longlines.
Classical hand analysis techniques, coupled with static strength testing, was used to support the design, fabrication, and flight certification of these components/systems. HEC and NHEC components were certified for flight to a wide variety of standards, including the Code of Federal Regulations – Title 14-Part 29, Part 27, and Part 133, Canadian Aviation Regulations (CAR), and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
