No certified helipads on 400 high-rises: Expert
No certified helipads on 400 high-rises: Expert
JAKARTA (JP): An aviation experts said that none of the around
400 high-rise buildings built in Jakarta have rooftop helipads
with technical specifications approved by the authorities.
"Indeed we don't expect a fire to happen, but if one does it
is faster to evacuate occupants by helicopter," said Andreas
Prayogo, an executive of PT Gatari Air Service, in a seminar
yesterday.
A now defunct Jakarta Ordinance No. 3/1975 initially enforced
owners of buildings higher than 40 meters to build helipads to
evacuate occupants in case of an emergency.
A new ordinance in 1992, however, abolished the requirement on
the grounds that the Jakarta fire department had been equipped
with long and electronically-controlled ladders.
Prayogo said that currently only 10 buildings, including
Djajanti Plaza, BNI 46 Building, Hotel Grand Hyatt, Hotel
Mandarin, all in Central Jakarta, had already constructed
helipads.
Some of them have applied to the Directorate of Airworthiness
Certification of Transportation Ministry for an operating license
and certification.
"But the approval doesn't exist," Prayogo bluntly said, adding
that inconsistency in the standard of auditing and certification
processing had hampered such applications.
Other speakers in the seminar included Barry Harvey, an
executive of Bixindo Utama Aviation management consultant, Ida
Bagus Ngurah Winata Manuaba, an executive of the Atlantic
Richfield Indonesia Inc. oil company and Budhi Suyitno, the
director of the certification directorate.
Prayogo said that the nagging traffic problem in Jakarta will
apparently force chief executive officers (CEOs) to use
helicopters.
"It means that they should rent a property equipped with a
rooftop helipad," he said, listing a number of big companies
which usually lease Gatari's helicopters.
Equipment
Manuaba said that different standards of the steel-made
helipads have confused helicopter users.
Speakers agreed that a popularly recognized rooftop helipad
should be developed with electronic equipment comprising of radio
communication, lighting, marking signs and fences.
Different agencies, however, set up different technical
methods. Citing an example, Prayogo said that the Indonesian
authorities enforce a minimum 14-by-14 square meter helipad. The
Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organization,
however, strictly requires an 18-by-18 square meter steel-made
helipad.
Gatari held the seminar under the theme "Improving Safety
Through Standardization and Certification of Helicopter Landing
Areas."
Gatari, which claims to have been the first Indonesian company
to offer a helicopter service, is owned by timber tycoon Muhammad
(Bob) Hasan and the Humpuss business group.
Gatari currently has 30 helicopters after losing one in an
accident earlier this month in Tomini Bay, Central Sulawesi. (09)