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AFRL tests advanced rescue basket

  • Published
  • By John Schutte
  • AFRL Human Effectiveness Directorate
Like eggs nestled in a vintage wire egg basket, evacuees huddle against the periphery of the Heli-Basket, an open-air metal container that hangs beneath a helicopter to ferry disaster victims out of harm's way.

"With this basket, you put it on the roof, load 15 people up in a matter of minutes and get them out of there," said John Plaga, a research aerospace engineer with the Air Force Research Laboratory's Human Effectiveness Directorate, Biosciences and Protection Division, Biomechanics Branch.

Previously, as seen during the Hurricane Katrina aftermath, rescuers could extract and carry only one victim at a time in a single-person basket, sling or Stokes litter.

"The Heli-Basket will allow all (helicopter) first-responders to be 15 times more efficient," said John Tollenaere, president of Heli-Basket manufacturer Precision Lift, Inc.

Mr. Plaga recently helped assure that the Heli-Basket meets military safety criteria for carrying humans. The U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center previously certified the basket for non-human cargo.

"This testing is really significant," said Mr. Tollenaere. "It is extremely sophisticated testing for this type of external equipment, and brings a whole new level of credibility to the product."

The U.S. Congress mandated a human-rated basket for Homeland Defense to ensure that military rescuers are prepared for emergency evacuations of high-rise buildings, from floods, at sea and in rugged or mountainous terrain.

The rectangular HB2000 Heli-Basket has an aluminum alloy frame and mesh grating. It is about 8.5 feet long and 4.5 feet wide and slightly over 3 feet tall, with a 4,500-pound payload rating. It connects to an HH-60 rescue helicopter via a 120-foot cable, which allows the basket to be lowered to ground while keeping the aircraft safely above obstructions such as trees and electrical wires.

Mr. Plaga worked with the Air National Guard Air Force Reserve Command Test Center who managed the Heli-Basket evaluation, the Air Force 746th Test Squadron from Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., which collected the data, and the Air National Guard 106th Rescue Wing, Gabreski Air National Guard Station, N.Y., to prepare tests and analyze data to determine the basket's safety and stability.

"It's interesting because almost anyone who looks at it would say it looks pretty safe," Mr. Plaga said of the sturdy-looking basket. "The problem is trying to say quantitatively, yes, it is safe."

Mr. Plaga, whose work typically involves much higher-impact acceleration loads, compared the forces associated with a ride in the basket to a roller coaster ride or a hot-air balloon landing.

Researchers used instrumented manikins to record acceleration data at flight speeds ranging from 46 mph (40 knots) to just over 100 mph (87 knots), at altitudes up to 9,000 feet to simulate mountain rescue operations. The data indicated that human passengers would not have been injured in these conditions.

A key technical advantage of the basket is its aerodynamic stability-it does not spin or twist during flight-regardless of how its load weight is distributed, Mr. Tollenaere said.

Human passengers-pararescue jumpers and military volunteers-will be tested in March at speeds up to 46 mph.

Researchers were concerned about potential problems related to cold-weather rescues in the open-air basket, particularly in a wet environment, but adjusting flight speed and providing blankets should resolve any issues, Mr. Plaga said.

Engineers also looked at basket performance during takeoffs and landings, but those scenarios proved benign because of the low speeds and low acceleration levels typical of helicopter operations.

The Heli-Basket is intended for peacetime rescue use in a non-threat environment. Evacuees sit around the perimeter of the basket, secured by seatbelts. A trained rescuer rides in the basket to help load, secure, and unload evacuees upon arrival at their safe point.

Mr. Tollenaere wants the Federal Emergency Management Agency to deploy Heli-Basket disaster response modules on trailers at key locations across the country to give military and civilian rescuers immediate access to the equipment in an emergency.