Flying a person from a helicopter

[mikienorth]

 

There’s a reason why almost every touring circus tent in the world has a roof/rigging points At the same height and kingpoles on identical spacing - circus mastered global standardisation of entertainment technologies decades ago

 

I had never noticed that and am very impressed that they do that - but then it makes training in different places and working in any circus make perfect sense.

 

Fascinating thing to read, and having once or twice worked alongside circus people, and all these questions about risk assessment, there is a very definite point that their safety paperwork is inspected very closely when they come into contact with us, who have enough questionable safety practice of our own.

 

To the outside world, our general working practices (Fast, complex heavy builds at late hours in often all weathers) would seem highly dangerous, but we know how relatively rare injury and fatality are in our world.

 

We are the outside world looking in, how much circus rigging experience is commenting in here? How many of us have ever flown people from aircraft?

 

My opinion of risk assessment is that it will actually allow you to do anything. All it does is make you think about it, and how you will minimise any risks.

 

'Will jumping off this cliff kill me? Yes. Well if I put a crash bag under it, it might not' Risk assessed and mitigated, so jumping off the cliff can happen.

[Ynot]

It might also be equable with the film world - well, maybe NOT the modern movie sets where so many epic 'stunts' seem to be green-screened and CGI, but certainly those of not that many decades ago.

Movie stunt men (and women/children) were renowned for their apparent lack-lustre approach to safety yet were probably amongst the safest on any film set. Simply because they rehearsed their moves ahead of the shoot days so that when it came to cameras rolling they'd got it off-pat without any foreseeable errors. Maybe not quite the rigorous practice that circus-folk go through but the principle is still there.

 

Make the mistakes in a safe (er) environment so that when it matters, all goes according to plan.

[bigclive]

The main thing is that before stepping out on that tightrope they pick up that clipboard next to it and fill in all the checkboxes to identify the risks involved.

 

Will you be working at height? Yes.

Are you wearing fall arrest equipment? No.

Is there a risk that you may fall off the thin taut wire? Yes.

Will your gold spandex leotard absorb any of the impact. No.

Is there a risk of cranial injury? Yes.

Are you wearing a hard hat. No.

Is there loud music? Yes.

Are you wearing hearing protection? No.

Are there bright lights? Yes.

Are you wearing all round eye protection? No.

Is there any airborne particulate like sawdust and monkey fluff? Yes.

Are you wearing a dust mask? No.

Are you working in the vicinity of elephants? Yes.

Are you wearing elephant-rated steel toe caps? No.

[mikienorth]

The main thing is that before stepping out on that tightrope they pick up that clipboard next to it and fill in all the checkboxes to identify the risks involved.

 

Will you be working at height? Yes.

Are you wearing fall arrest equipment? No.

Is there a risk that you may fall off the thin taut wire? Yes.

Will your gold spandex leotard absorb any of the impact. No.

Is there a risk of cranial injury? Yes.

Are you wearing a hard hat. No.

Is there loud music? Yes.

Are you wearing hearing protection? No.

Are there bright lights? Yes.

Are you wearing all round eye protection? No.

Is there any airborne particulate like sawdust and monkey fluff? Yes.

Are you wearing a dust mask? No.

Are you working in the vicinity of elephants? Yes.

Are you wearing elephant-rated steel toe caps? No.

 

Oh absolutely! As long as the risk has been thought about and that thought process has been recorded, the risk assesment is complete....

 

Now if they then go on to create a method statement or a safe working method for tightrope walking, and deviate from it, woe betide them.

 

Both literally and also in the wrath of the H&S experts.

[abbotsmike]

I get the impression the circus industry appear to be very arrogant

I fixed that for you ;) :)

 

From reading through this thread that does seem to be the case. On the one side there are non circus people saying "I don't understand can anyone explain" and on the other side there are circus people saying "you're not circus enough to understand, how dare you question us"

 

Some of the responses have been very enlightening and interesting though, it's just a shame it seemed to take several rounds of arguing before anyone actually revealed any proper information!!

 

The only thing I can contribute is:

 

As a former regular rock climber, the harness suspension timings always amuse me. I used to be regularly dangling around in a harness for periods of an hour or more when helping people less experienced than me, or rescuing groups of students that had freaked themselves out and frozen on a multi pitch route.

 

Recently been have a discussion with a colleague about lifting and moving projectors in the live events realm. Someone has pointed out that they're really heavy and awkward, and maybe the usual method of throwing 4 strong people at the problem isn't the solution. The alternatives are all complex, expensive, and would lead to a web of LOLER and training requirements, that could actually lead to greater risks than the strong people solution. And the fact that are actually very few if any examples of the current method, actually going wrong!

[ImagineerTom]

It’s certainly not my intention to suggest that circus is beyond question and the largest part of my job is interfacing between the circus and non circus world to make sure that everything is safe and regulations followed.

 

It is clear however that the very core mindset of circus stunts (and stunts in general) is a million miles away from the mindset of theatre. To me someone saying “I’m very sensible and safe but when I got up at 2am in an uncontrolled situation I injured myself therefore circus performers must be crazy reckless rule breakers” is akin to me saying to someone in theatre “I’m good at electronics and I once got a shock from a desk so you theatre people with 125amp three phase electricity must be crazy fools who are just lucky you aren’t killing yourselves with electricity every day”

 

Any Arialist, any stunt performer, any circus consultant, any circus rigger will be more than happy to answer serious questions about their work and processes - but don’t start by rehashing the old cliches that they’re a bunch of pikey chancers who don’t understand safety and who work outside the law just to spite everyone else....

[TeeJay]

We present a few circus related productions a year and this was something that we kept coming across

 

One useful phrase I've come across in this is the idea of 'rehearsed competency'. It's the notion that a given risk assessment/method statement/safe system of work/your terminology here, etc is tied to a particular person who has regular and ongoing experience, training and knowledge in a particular area. We use it to say, for example, that a given silk trick is designed by, around and for a particular performer. It's not meant as a catch-all so that anyone could come along and perform the trick but it goes some way to explaining to an inspector that this person's job/career is designed around being about to do this.

 

Rehearsed competency also can apply to situations that aren't circus related.

 

As an example, a show we presented a few years ago was an in the round show for three dancers. The set was a three level tower where each level was a flat surface (at least 8' length and width and likely a foot or so more). As the show was in the round, there was no side bracing and only a minimum of corner bracing for the structure so every side was open and exposed. Lowest level was one or two foot off the floor, mid level was at around 6' and top level was at 12' (my measurements may be a little off). There was one dancer per level and the show is around 50 mins long.

 

A number of other performance spaces had passed on presenting it as they were concerned with performers at height with no means of preventing them falling off.

But if you actually checked the video of the performance (so it was an existing piece), the dancers remained in the centre of their level, and never extended to any side whilst standing. If they were to faint there was enough platform at their level for them to fall onto, rather than fall off.

 

Did we remove the risk of falling. No.

 

But we minimising the likelihood of that risk by using performers who had rehearsed repeatedly the routine, had devised the routine to prevent any motions that would unnecessarily bring them close to the edge and who had to maintain a good physical routine.

 

We weren't devising a system for anyone working with us to be able to dance on an unguarded platform 12' in the air; we were devising a methodology for that particular performer to undertake their routine.

[timmeh2]

Hi all

 

Interesting read, this thread.

 

Suspending things from underneath a helicopter is actually fairly straightforward, legally, providing the aircraft is fitted with factory-fitted or approved aftermarket sling hooks, and the load doesn't exceed the load rating of the helicopter, and the combined weight of the load, pilot, passengers and fuel does not exceed the all-up-weight of the aircraft, and the performance of the engine(s) and rotor system on the day (variable on things like the weather) are within limits.

 

The hoop is suspending from two slings, but I'd suspect that if one snapped the other one would be strong enough to keep things attached. They're using a longline to keep the hoop out of the downwash from the rotor otherwise it would spin like a top, although there would be some wind irrespective of sling length. Once in the hover the airflow from the blades tends to be fairly laminar, which actually helps to stabilize what's underneath, providing it's not shaped like a wing. A human on a hoop is about as unaerodynamic as you can get.

 

Sure it's been mentioned already but as she sits on the hoop you can see her attach a d-link with a steel cable to her belt to prevent her from falling out.

 

For those that are interested, the helicopter they used is possibly an AS530. They have a rather unique shape to their skids.

 

https://www.aircraft...-Sale/62698.htm

 

All the best

Timmeh

[ImagineerTom]

Ok lets go for a deep dive on circus safety / design principles using a specific example "The Wheel of Death" and a particular performance that includes a deliberate "accident" which perfectly illustrates how controlled and safe the environment is.

 

Firstly the design of the wheel is deliberate - you'll notice that every single bar and tube on this wheen (and every single wheel out there) is made of thick round bar; so absolutely any part of the wheel you grab hold of is the perfect size for a human grip, has no corners that could cause any injury and is structural. This means that if ever a performer slips or stumbles (or conversely if the ground crew need to get involved) then absolutely anything they grab is rated and the best possible material and because gravity is a constant if you do fall off the wheel by definition the wheel that you can grab on to for safety is going to be moving at virtually the same rate you are so you have much more time to react. Although it looks like each of the drums on the end are solid they are actually an angled mesh which means they look solid from this angle but the performers inside the wheel can clearly see each other.

The wheel is suspended on high quality bearings to keep the movement perfectly smooth and the three point rig used to suspend it means that the wheel spins perfectly vertically, is held solidly in place and yet can be rigged / removed in less than a minute. All wheels are one of three sizes (solo, standard and arena sized) and because all circus ring's are the same size, all circus tents have the kingpoles on the same spacing and have the same height / style of central rigging point (the cupola) a performer can learn the routine on their own wheel then take that wheel in to basically any circus on the planet and instantly be able to rig it in the style and way they always have.

 

Despite looking quite dangerous the centrifugal / centripetal force means that both performers are destined to travel through virtually the same path in space whether deliberately controlling or suddenly falling; this path means that if you loose consciousness inside the wheel then you are pinned to the side of the wheel automatically (demonstrated as the lay-over trick) and if outside you "fall off" the wheel the height you will actually fall before hitting the ground is only 3m absolute maximum (as demonstrated in this performance by the performer "falling off" accidentally and by his showy dismount at the end) and as you can see the path the falling performer takes is almost identical to the path he would otherwise have taken. It is incredibly hard to DELIBERATELY get off the wheel let alone have it happen accidentally because of the design of the prop itself. If you do fall off it is within a 2x1m crash zone on either side of the wheel. In that demo video you also note that when the performer is on the ground the wheel passes above him (another industry standard policy - ALWAYS rig your wheel 12inch off the ground) and note that just before the "accident" there's an extra stage crew (actually his cousin) who just happens to be in the perfect place to stop the wheel. Using one extra person on the ground you can stop a wheel dead in just 1/4 of a turn- if there wasn't an assistant on the ground then the remaining performer in the wheel can stop it dead in less than 1 turn.

 

The performers are NEVER ensemble or changed - you learn a routine with your partner and however freeform or crazy the routine seems you ALWAYS perform the same routine with the same "mistakes" or "improvisation" at the exact same times. Some duo's are talking to each other during the routine to stay in sync, others are doing it based on step count or rotation count. The performers will practice several times per day and if either performer is ill or injured the routine is cut. The speed of the wheel is very predictable and self regulating if one performer is faster than the other they find themselves with a steeper walking surface which makes their movements less efficient. Finally the performers will only have this act and one other act (traditionally something ground based) that they perform, twice daily, seven days a week for their whole professional career.

 

Oh and spoilers... the blindfold is never a blindfold, it's mesh so there's basically no impedance of the performers vision.

 

So in short, by design it is virtually impossible to fall off the prop whilst conscious because the forces are making you stay on it, if you do fall whilst conscious you have a lot to grab on to and even if you miss all of that the most you can fall is 3m. If you did mysteriously become unconscious during the routine (almost impossible since fainting is a symptom of injury or illness which would normally cause the whole routine to be nixed) then inside the wheel you would be pinned safely to the wheel until the maximum one revolution needed to rescue you and outside the wheel you'd fall 3m maximum on to relatively soft ground.

 

There's 8 wheel of death acts performing in the uk at the moment, every one of them will have a stumble/mistake/fall that the audience will swear blind was real yet has actually been practiced extensively. I believe in the last 35 years there's been one UK fatality from the wheel (falling on to concrete) and 2 people with minor broken bones across the literally hundreds of thousands of performances in that period.

Ironically Cirque du Soleil have the most dangerous wheel's in operation because they tend to rig them over voids / pools which means that when performers fall off they have much further distances to travel and it tends to be these distances which are causing the injuries rather than the wheel itself.

 

So sorry for the long posting but I hope this goes some way to explain how something which looks pikey, wreckless, dangerous and likely to result in horrific injury is actually one of the safest stunts you could imagine because of an ethos and mindset that means every single stage is designed, developed or choreographed to be inherently the safest it could possibly be.

[indyld]

The Wheel of Death is one of my favourite acts and always seems so effortless that it actually looks like fun - despite the fact that I suffer from all kinds of dizziness these days not to mention not being old and not fit enough. I saw it a few years ago at Zyair and I recall that was a solo performance with a counterbalance in the other end of the 'dogbone'.

[DrV]

Fascinating post - thanks Tom

[ImagineerTom]

The Wheel of Death is one of my favourite acts and always seems so effortless that it actually looks like fun - despite the fact that I suffer from all kinds of dizziness these days not to mention not being old and not fit enough. I saw it a few years ago at Zyair and I recall that was a solo performance with a counterbalance in the other end of the 'dogbone'.

It is amazingly good fun to run outside the wheel. And yes- solo wheels are counterbalanced to make them behave just the same as a full duo wheel.

 

The art of circus (and magic) is in making something feel like an amazing once in a lifetime experience when in reality it’s something you do on demand

Edited January 27, 2020 by ImagineerTom