Thousands of miles from the mainland, the Honolulu Fire Department (HFD) is uniquely self-sufficient and innovative. This is especially true when it comes to its search-and-rescue (SAR) and wildland fire suppression aviation assets.
After a fatal crash in 1995 that took the life of a HFD pilot and two police officers, the department reevaluated its aviation program. It moved from the MD 500D to the MD 520N Notar and developed increased safety procedures and training. For 20 years it has operated these single-engine helicopters in Hawaii’s challenging environments accident free, performing day and night operations over land and water in changing weather, high winds, and narrow canopy-filled canyons.
Today, the department owns and operates four MD 520N helicopters. All missions are conducted single pilot in visual flight rules (VFR) conditions. At night, HFD pilots fly night vision goggle (NVG) aided missions to maintain visual surface reference. One of the MD 520Ns, which was recently overhauled, has NVG-configured avionics.
The helicopters are equipped with dual human external cargo (HEC) hooks for short haul rescue and firefighting bucket operations. The department also secured a supplemental type certificate (STC) for anchors in the aircraft, allowing rescuers to belay from the aircraft rather than be short hauled to rescue sites.
Time for an Upgrade
Over the past several years, HFD struggled to get parts for its MD 520N aircraft while at the same time, the onboard equipment became more dated and incapable of supporting modern rescue techniques. The department began researching alternative aircraft that could boost capabilities and safety in 2021.
“You could argue that we’ve flown these aircraft beyond their service life expectancy, in terms of the aircraft’s capabilities and its onboard equipment,” HFD Battalion Chief Robert Thurston said of the MD 520Ns. “We knew we needed to move up to the industry standard with modern avionics, modern search-and-rescue equipment, and twin engines.”
As a part of its research before the aircraft procurement process, Thurston reached out to rescue training specialists SR3 Rescue Concepts to inquire about hoist training and consultation — as the department knew it wanted to add a hoist to its new helicopter. SR3 visited HFD, performing an audit of the department’s short haul program.
“What really impressed me about Honolulu Fire Department’s operations was how they were making maximum use of limited resources,” said SR3 hoist coordinator Rob Munday. “They are doing nighttime over water, long line rescues on night vision goggles in a totally unstabilized MD 520N. I don’t think that’s ever been done anywhere. Yet, these guys are doing it, and they are doing it really well and as safely as you possibly can given the limitations of the aircraft. The same with the belay and repelling out of the aircraft — sort of a poor-man’s hoist. They are extremely skilled and proficient. It’s a testament to their ability to use the resources they have to the absolute best of their ability. It was really impressive.”
The HFD is the only department in the state where the aircraft are owned by the city and operated by department personnel. Pilots and rescue specialists are fire department employees, and all previously worked on fire engines prior to their work on the helicopter, including the pilots. In fact, rescue specialists continue to work on the ground and are picked up in the field when needed by the helicopter.
Honolulu’s Bell Era
In 2022, the Honolulu city council approved funding for a new twin-engine IFR aircraft, associated rescue equipment, and an additional three pilots — which would allow the new aircraft to operate with two pilots. After an extensive search, the HFD took delivery of a new Bell 429 helicopter last fall to increase the department’s safety envelope and capabilities, in effect making a giant leap forward in its operational capabilities.
“We are truly grateful to our local government and administration for their support of our search-and-rescue helicopter operation,” Thurston said. “We have complete and total support from our administration to do whatever it takes to be as safe as possible and deploy the aircraft to the benefit of the taxpayers.”
Before the department settled on an aircraft, they researched their options. SR3, with their vast background across a number of operations and aircraft platforms, provided a lot of help, Thurston said.
One particularly valuable service was the personalized connections. SR3 connected HFD senior pilot Dustin Harris with pilots of a variety of twin-engine helicopters performing hoist rescue operations and long-line firefighting around the country.
“For me as a pilot, it was very helpful to be able to talk with other pilots who flew those machines,” Harris said. “I was able to pick their brains and get the honest good, bad, and ugly with all the helicopter options.”
In the end, Thurston said the Bell 429 checked all the boxes. “We looked at a number of different manufacturers and a number of programs, and given the capital, operation and maintenance costs — and the technical and performance specifications of all the potential aircraft — we determined the Bell 429 was the most suitable for our budget, our operation, our mission profiles, and maintenance ability. The aircraft’s ability to maintain its in service hours stood out as well.”
HFD’s new Bell arrived on the island in November 2024. It features a very utilitarian interior with sound proofing and the divider between the cabin and luggage compartment removed to save weight and maximize space.
Its SAR equipment includes a Goodrich external mounted articulating hoist, NVG-compatible lighting, a Trakka search light, dual HEC-rated hooks, and cargo tie-downs and netting. Avionics include a full glass cockpit, including four-axis autopilot, a second display unit on the left side to allow for left-side VFR PIC operations, and a custom vertical reference system with an external mounted torque indicator and warning lights to aid in vertical reference flying. Also, for vertical reference flying, the aircraft features bubble doors. This means during firefighting and long-line missions on hot days, the doors can remain on and air conditioning running.
Patience, Young Grasshopper
Choosing the aircraft was only the first step. For the entire HFD aviation team to operate its new aircraft, it needs a solid six months of intensive training. Again, SR3 has stepped in to help. Training is conducted in three phases, where pilot, hoist operator, and rescue specialist trainers help the HFD team learn the ropes.
Phase one took place in February of this year. During the eight-day training period, four pilots, four hoist operators, and eight rescue specialists learned about the aircraft and practiced hoist and rescue operations over land and water during the day.
Having never operated hoists or twin-engine aircraft in rescues, the HFD team had a high learning curve.
“We’d always operated under vertical reference, where the pilot is watching the line and flying accordingly,” senior pilot Harris explained. “With a hoist, the hoist operators are communicating to the pilot, giving direction and information on where the load is. That is a complete change and something we’re learning to do as a team.
“What really helped was SR3 had their instructors with us in the aircraft and we could hear each other. The pilot instructor would be giving instruction, and the hoist and rescue guys could hear it, and vice versa. It really helped us understand each other’s roll.”
Despite the newness of the operations, HFD is learning quickly, said SR3’s Munday.
“The HFD team is so good and work so well together that they picked up things much faster than I’d expected,” Munday told Vertical. “They were able to take what they knew from how they operated in the 520s and apply it as they transitioned to the hoist.”
Part of that easy transition is due to SR3’s teaching style.
“They took everyone from zero to proficiency with a mentoring type of mentality versus, ‘We’re your instructors and this is how you do it,’ type of mentality,” Thurston said of SR3. “I feel like this is the beginning of a long-term relationship. They are a big part of the success of our new aircraft in our program and we hope to continue to work with them as we grow.”
The HFD team continues to train in the aircraft, practicing procedures and building proficiency. Phase two of training with SR3 will take place in late February and early March where the HFD team will learn, practice, and refine nighttime operations over land.
The team will then incorporate these new skills in their regular trainings until May when SR3 will deliver phase three – a train-the-trainer program so HFD can bring more team members up to proficiency internally. Thurston anticipates beginning a phased deployment of the aircraft in June.
The HFD plans to conduct annual training with SR3, periodically adding new modules of training such as over water at night operations as the team builds proficiency.
Once the Bell 429 is deployed, HFD will reduce its MD 520N fleet to three, decommissioning one for parts, with a plan to eventually phase out the aircraft as funding allows for more modern aircraft additions to the fleet.
Photos and video courtesy of SR3 Rescue Concepts