Tropical HUET (T-HUET)

Introduction

The OPITO Tropical Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (T-HUET) is the offshore helicopter safety and survival training programme specifically designed for personnel working in tropical energy environments who travel to and from offshore installations by helicopter.

Operating offshore in tropical regions brings its own distinct challenges. Personnel must be equipped not only with helicopter underwater escape skills but also with the sea survival knowledge and practical competence suited to tropical sea conditions, installation types, and the equipment used in the region. The T-HUET programme addresses both requirements within a single, comprehensive certification, combining helicopter escape training with tropical sea survival, evacuation procedures, and in-water survival techniques.

Through a combination of classroom instruction and intensive pool-based practical exercises, learners develop the confidence and competence to respond effectively to helicopter emergencies and post-ditching survival situations. T-HUET is the recognised entry-level helicopter safety certification for personnel new to or returning to offshore operations in tropical regions, and is a prerequisite component of the Tropical Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training (T-BOSIET) programme.

Delivered in accordance with OPITO Product Code 5195, T-HUET certification is valid for four years, after which learners are required to complete further offshore emergency training to maintain competence.

Who Needs T-HUET Training?

T-HUET training is intended for personnel travelling to offshore installations by helicopter in tropical regions and where the operating company requires helicopter escape and sea survival training without the full offshore safety induction programme.

This course may be required for personnel transferring between offshore installations, those who already hold a recognised offshore safety induction certificate, or personnel working in roles where the operator specifies HUET-level helicopter escape training rather than the full T-BOSIET programme.

Where personnel are travelling offshore for the first time, operators may instead require the full T-BOSIET programme.

Scope

The T-HUET programme introduces learners to the safety and emergency response requirements for offshore helicopter travel in tropical environments. It provides specific training in pre-flight and in-flight requirements, helicopter emergency procedures, and sea survival techniques applicable to tropical offshore operations, equipping learners with the knowledge and practical skills required to respond effectively in the event of a helicopter emergency.

The programme covers two mandatory units: Helicopter Safety and Escape - Tropical, and Sea Survival - THUET. Practical training is conducted in our purpose-built pool facility using a Survival Systems METS™ (Modular Egress Training Simulator) Model 40, with OPITO-qualified HUET safety divers in attendance throughout all in-water exercises.

Unlike the standard HUET+EBS programme, T-HUET does not normally include Emergency Breathing System (EBS) equipment training. Where required by the operator, EBS familiarisation or deployment training may be delivered as an additional module. The programme does, however, include sea survival training in tropical sea conditions, evacuation procedures for offshore installations, floating production units, and other offshore structures, and a TEMPSC (Totally Enclosed Motor-Propelled Survival Craft) boarding exercise.

T-HUET is commonly delivered as a standalone helicopter escape and tropical sea survival course, or as a component of the OPITO Tropical Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training (T-BOSIET) programme.

General Course Objectives

The objectives of this training are that learners will be able to:

1. Demonstrate, in a simulated environment, that they can use the safety equipment and follow procedures in preparing for, and during, helicopter emergencies — with particular focus on escaping from a helicopter following ditching.
2. Demonstrate sea survival techniques appropriate to tropical offshore operations, including in-water survival, rescue procedures, evacuation methods, and mustering aboard survival craft.

Course Content

Helicopter Safety and Escape — Tropical

Learners gain a thorough understanding of offshore helicopter travel requirements for tropical operations. Theory covers pre-flight briefing procedures, pre-boarding requirements (arrival time, correct dress, documentation, prohibited articles, check-in procedures, and safe boarding), and pre-flight video requirements.

Helicopter emergency awareness training addresses how to inform the crew of observed or suspected emergencies, including fire, smoke, fuel leaks, and abnormal conditions; in-flight emergency procedures including seat belt checks and crew instruction compliance; aircraft flotation characteristics; emergency escape routes for ditching and emergency landing; independent action; and survival techniques following ditching or emergency landing on both water and land. Learners study aviation lifejacket donning, brace positions for all seating and harness types, helicopter evacuation procedures (locate, release, and evacuate), and aviation liferaft deployment, operation, and initial and secondary actions on boarding.

Practical helicopter escape exercises are completed in the HUET pool facility and follow a progressive sequence:

• Donning an aviation lifejacket
• Actions in preparing for a helicopter ditching or emergency landing
• Evacuating from a helicopter trainer following a controlled emergency descent to a dry landing
• Dry evacuation into an aviation liferaft from a helicopter ditched on water, including push-out window operation, with initial liferaft actions (mooring lines, sea anchor, canopy)
• Escaping from a partially submerged helicopter through an underwater window exit, without push-out window
• Escaping from a partially submerged helicopter through an underwater window exit, including push-out window operation
• Escaping from a capsized helicopter without push-out window operation
• Escaping from a capsized helicopter, including push-out window operation
• Inflating an aviation lifejacket, deploying a spray visor, and boarding an aviation liferaft from the water

Sea Survival — Tropical

This unit equips learners with the sea survival knowledge and practical skills required for offshore operations in tropical environments, covering installation evacuation procedures, survival craft operations, and in-water survival techniques.

Theory covers typical offshore emergency types (including floating installations such as FPSOs and drilling rigs), station bills and escape routes, muster locations and abandonment points, installation alarms and communications, devolved command procedures, personal protective equipment requirements, SAR organisation and rescue methods, helicopter winching and rescue procedures (including single and double lift), TEMPSC types and capabilities (freefall, single fall, and twin fall), tertiary escape methods, and the various means of rescue available offshore including standby vessel, FRC, MRRD, net, basket, and ladder.

Practical exercises include:

• Mustering, donning a lifejacket, and boarding and strapping in as a TEMPSC passenger
• Boarding a marine liferaft from the water and carrying out initial actions including mooring lines, sea anchor, and raft maintenance
• Water entry from the poolside and correct precautions when entering the water
• Fitting a helicopter rescue device and simulated rescue (single strop, double strop, or basket as a minimum)
• In-water individual survival techniques including swimming, HELP position, and wave slap protection
• In-water group survival techniques including towing, chain, huddle, and circle formations, followed by rescue by one of the recognised offshore methods

Prerequisites

• Participants must hold a valid offshore medical certificate or equivalent medical fitness certification, in accordance with OPITO medical entry requirements.