Orga, a world leader in the design and manufacture of state-of the-art helideck lighting systems, aids to navigation equipment and obstruction aviation lighting, today announced that its Circle-H touchdown positioning and heliport identification marking (TD/PM) system has been certified by CAA International (CAAi) to all UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) CAP 437 standards.
This is the first certificate of it type awarded by the CAAi and provides Orga’s customers assurance that they are buying a safe helideck lighting system that has been investigated to stringent CAP 437 safety requirements by an accredited third party.
In addition to Circle-H receiving full CAP 437 approval, the CAAi has reviewed and approved Orga’s Circle-H installation methodology as well.
Orga product group manager for helideck lighting Daniel Powell said: "We are proud to be the first company in the world to receive UK CAA International certification on the compliance of our Circle-H helideck lighting system and installation methodology to CAP 437.
"CAP 437 sets the standard for offshore helicopter landing areas and being CAP 437 certified demonstrates to our customers that safety is a top priority for Orga. There are a number of Circle-H helideck lighting systems currently available and selecting the wrong system may prove costly in terms of lives as well as money.
"This certification will help simplify the decision-making process for our customers as the Orga Circle-H TD/PM system is the only offshore helideck lighting system on the market that has been rigorously tested against all sections of CAP 437 and approved by the UK CAA through its subsidiary CAAi."
Based in the Netherlands, Orga was instrumental in developing the CAP 437 Circle-H helideck lighting configuration with the UK CAA following a number of helicopter accidents in the North Sea. Duty holders have until 31 March 2018 to retrofit the new lighting system on UK North Sea offshore platforms. Helidecks not fitted with the new Circle-H lighting system after this date will be considered unsuitable for night and low visibility operations.