HEL | Aberdeen/Dyce (EGPD)¶

Responsibility¶

HELS is responsible for the provision of offshore radar services to traffic operating within a combined HELS/REBROS sector at and below FL85. HELS shall not provide ATS to individual oil rigs; traffic approaching oil rigs shall be instructed to self-announce on UNICOM 122.800.

VATSIMism

The real REBROS sector extends north of 59N, however, due to VATSIM ATC visibility range restrictions, this portion has been delegated to Sumburgh Radar.

Fixed wing traffic operating within the North Sea Offshore Safety Area (UK AIP chart ENR 6-26) are encouraged to contact HELS to receive a radar service and deconflict from helicopter operations. Traffic outside controlled airspace worked by Scottish Area Control (ScAC) or Swanwick Mil will be coordinated with HELS as required.

When bandboxed with INT, provision of the HELS function is at the controller’s discretion and when provided, must not adversely affect the primary approach radar service to traffic inbound/outbound Aberdeen.

Provision of Air Traffic Services¶

Controllers shall provide UK FIS, subject to surveillance and VHF radio coverage. Between identified and coordinated traffic within 40 NM of Aberdeen, controllers may apply 3 NM horizontal deconfliction minima. Controllers shall provide 5 NM deconfliction minima outside of 40 NM from Aberdeen and against traffic which is not identified or coordinated within 40 NM.

HELS shall allocate offshore traffic SSR codes in the range 2660-2677.

Altimeter Setting Procedures¶

Traffic operating within 40 NM of Aberdeen shall operate on the Aberdeen QNH.

Traffic outside of 40 NM shall operate on the appropriate RPS, which can be obtained through the UK Controller Plugin.

Controllers must account for differences between the relevant QNH/RPS when applying vertical separation near ASR boundaries.

A nominal Transition Altitude of 6000 ft is defined within the offshore sectors and traffic operating above this level shall operate on flight levels. Minimum Flight Levels will vary within each QNH/RPS region and 1013 hPa is considered ‘high pressure’ (ie. the minimum flight level is FL70 when the QNH is 1013 hPa).

Helicopter Main Routing Indicators (HMRI)¶

A number of Helicopter Main Routes Indicators (HMRI) are defined based on ADN VOR radials. The ADN VOR HMRI system begins at radial 023° and subsequent routes are space at 3° intervals with the final route being 116°. The routes alternate outbound/inbound; HMRI 023 is outbound, 026 is inbound, 029 is outbound, and so on. The routes are defined between 1500 ft and FL95, helicopter traffic will typically only operate below 1500 ft when required by weather. HMRI 023/026/029/032/035 terminate at fixes GOLF/JULIET/LIMA/NOVEMBER/OSCAR on the boundary of the East Shetland Basin region (within the Sumburgh Radar sector – see UK AIP chart ENR 6-24).

Additional routes are defined which are not based on the ADN VOR radial network. These are routes ECHO and WHISKY which are bi-directional routes to/from Sumburgh, and routes X-RAY and YANKEE which route to the Atlantic Rim region via Wick (WIK) VOR. During Runway 16 operations ECHO is outbound and WHISKY inbound, during Runway 34 operations WHISKY is outbound and ECHO inbound. Aircraft joining/leaving HMRI 023-086 shall route via ECHO/WHISKY outbound/inbound dependent on the Aberdeen runway in use.

The HMRI are depicted in charts ENR 6-26 and ENR 6-27.

Offshore Sector Responsibility and Altimeter Setting Regions

Outbound Procedures¶

Helicopters may elect to depart IFR or VFR with clearance to the destination, specifying the HMRI, Standard Departure and flight rules, initial altitude/altitude restriction, and squawk.

Radiotelephony

BHL68A cleared to Cormorant Alpha, via route 029 to LIMA, SPIKE departure IFR, climb to altitude 3000 ft, squawk 4250.

Departing traffic shall be passed the appropriate standard clearance and prenoted to INT, departure is subject to release from INT. INT shall coordinate with HELS (who shall assign a HELS SSR code) and transfer traffic once clear of the Aberdeen CTR.

Runway 16 IFR Departures¶

HMRI	Standard Departure	Route	Altitude
HMRI 023-053 & Sumburgh	SPIKE IFR	VANOR – SPIKE – via ECHO to join HMRI radial	Cross VANOR at 3000 ft
HMRI 059-101	SHRUB IFR	SHRUB – route to join HMRI radial at 40 DME	Cross coastline at 3000 ft
HMRI 107 & greater	GORSE IFR	Bridge of Don – GORSE – route to join HMRI radial at 40 DME	Cross Bridge of Don at 3000 ft

Runway 16 VFR Departures¶

HMRI	Standard Departure	Route	Altitude
HMRI 101 & less & Sumburgh	ATSIB VFR	Pass south of Corby Loch – VANOR – ATSIB then joining HMRI by 40 DME	Not above 1000 ft (1500 ft at night)
HMRI 107 & greater	GORSE VFR	Bridge of Don – GORSE then joining HMRI by 40 DME	Not above 1500 ft

Runway 34 IFR Departures¶

HMRI	Standard Departure	Route	Altitude
HMRI 071 & less & Sumburgh	PETOX IFR	PETOX – via WHISKEY to join HMRI radial	Cross PETOX at 3000 ft
HMRI 077 & greater	Forties IFR	NOBAL – route to join HMRI radial at 40 DME	Cross NOBAL at 3000 ft

Runway 34 VFR Departures¶

HMRI	Standard Departure	Route	Altitude
HMRI 071 & less & Sumburgh	SPIKE VFR	Hackley Head – SPIKE – via ECHO to join HMRI radial	Not above 1000 ft (1500 ft at night)
HMRI 077 & greater	HACKLEY VFR	Hackley Head – route to join HMRI radial at 40 DME	Not above 1000 ft (1500 ft at night)

Inbound Procedures¶

Inbound traffic will free-call HELS once clear of oil rig local traffic. HELS will assign a HELS SSR code and confirm the inbound HMRI route and level. Traffic shall then be individually coordinated with INT and transferred before entering controlled airspace. INT may clear inbounds from the HMRI structure via the following standard routings but may also provide any alternate clearance as felt appropriate to integrate the traffic into the arrival stream.

Runway 16 IFR Arrivals¶

HMRI	Route
HMRI 026-086 & WHISKEY	Via HMRI to join WHISKEY – Hackley Head then radar vectors to ILS 16
HMRI 092 & greater	At 30 DME ADN route direct to Hackley Head then radar vectors to ILS 16

Runway 16 VFR Arrivals¶

HMRI	Route
HMRI 026-086 & Sumburgh	Via HMRI to join WHISKEY – Hackley Head crossing Hackley Head not above 1000 ft (1500 ft at night) to join visual circuit
HMRI 092 only	At 30 DME route direct to Hackley Head crossing Hackley Head not above 1000 ft (1500 ft at night) to join visual circuit

Runway 34 IFR Arrivals¶

HMRI	Route
HMRI 026-086 & ECHO	Via HMRI to join ECHO – GORSE then radar vectors to ILS 34
HMRI 092 & greater	At 30 DME route direct to GORSE then radar vectors to ILS 34

Runway 34 VFR Arrivals¶

HMRI	Route
HMRI 026-062 & Sumburgh	Via HMRI to join ECHO – ATSIB – VANOR crossing VANOR not above 1000 ft (1500 ft at night) – passing south of Corby Loch to join visual circuit
HMRI 068-086	At 30 DME route direct to ATSIB – VANOR crossing VANOR not above 1000 ft (1500 ft at night) – passing south of Corby Loch to join visual circuit
HMRI 092 & greater	At 30 DME route direct to GORSE – Bridge of Don crossing GORSE not above 1500 ft to join visual circuit