French HEMS operator: autopilot ‘hazardous’ equipment | Aviation International News

French HEMS operator: autopilot ‘hazardous’ equipment

Hospitals, EASA agree autopilot improves safety, while BEA finds no record of automation-caused helicopter accident.

By Thierry Dubois • Writer

July 2, 2014

Helicopter EMS operator Mont-Blanc Hélicoptères (MBH), a defeated bidder in a recent tender by a group of hospitals in central France, is suing the group on technical grounds, alleging some of the requirements are irrelevant. In particular, the stipulation for an autopilot compromises safety, according to MBH managing director Yannick Métairie, who dismisses the autopilot as a “hazardous” system.

“The technical requirements issued by Dreux hospital [which led the tender] exceed those from civil aviation authorities such as the EASA and the French DGAC, as well as the guidelines from the ministry of health,” he told AIN. He argued that “80 percent of France’s fleet” does not meet the requirement for an autopilot because so far the stipulation has been only for “a stability augmentation system (SAS) or an autopilot.”

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