Implementing ADS-B in the Gulf

Over the past eight years, I covered quite a few offshore subjects, but I have never done a profile on the number of personalities that have made offshore helicopter operations the preferred method of traveling to offshore rigs and other support vessels.

There have been articles about the early pioneers within the industry like the Suggs family and others who have found a space in the executive suites. They certainly should be recognized for the sacrifice and leadership they provided in the early days. Many of them have been profiled in other publications.

Bless them all, but my thoughts have gravitated to the men and women who have done and still do the hands-on daily managing and decisionmaking that cause the successful all-weather helicopter support activity that we see today. One man who defines that description and has been on the forefront of offshore safety innovation for more than 20 years is Casey Lowery. He now hangs his hat with Omni Helicopters International as global head of business development.

Lowery began his aviation career as a pilot with the U.S. Army National Guard and Petroleum Helicopters Inc. (PHI). He quickly moved into management positions with Tennessee Gas, Unocal Corporation and Chevron Inc.

He was recognized as a leader early in his career. In the early 1990s, he was selected as a company representative to the Helicopter Safety Advisory Conference (HSAC) and to the National Business Aircraft Association (NBAA) as a member of the Airport and Heliport Committee. These appointments were in addition to his management and flying duties. After a short time, he was installed as the chairman of HSAC.

As chairman, Lowery left a huge footprint for Gulf Coast helicopter operations through his participation in establishing one of the first ADS-B operational uses of that system. This project was a multi-faceted program needing intense cooperation between the FAA, HSAC, the oil and gas industry, commercial technology contractors, Helicopter Association International (HAI) and many Gulf Coast helicopter operators. Because the system was established in the Gulf, HSAC became the center for coordinating almost all of the associated activities of the participants.

The HSAC is fully a volunteer organization, and every regular member is sponsored by the company for which they work. That includes owners and managers — there are no paid positions within the organization. Also there are a number of associate members who volunteer their time.

To get the system off the ground, a great deal of coordination was needed between all of the participants with many different members wearing more than one hat.

Lowery was central to all of the participants’ needs by helping to direct traffic and schedule meetings on an impromptu need. To get an understanding of the size of this project, there were some hurdles he had to cross.

Central to the entire project was getting a memorandum of agreement signed by the helicopter operators and the oil companies with offshore platforms. Space on these platforms is sacred, with almost every square inch accounted for. Lowery was instrumental in helping with these negotiations, resulting in the needed space being provided.

Being a government project, its funding had to be provided by the FAA. To expedite that need, a meeting was set up in Washington, D.C., through the auspices of HAI. Lowery traveled to Washington along with the HSAC vice chairman and the president of HAI to meet with Gulf Coast congressmen and the FAA’s deputy administrator. The meeting was successful, and funding was made available in June 2006.

To quote Lowery, “Out of all my accomplishments throughout my 30 years in aviation, I am most proud to have had the opportunity to lead HSAC during the implementation of ADS-B in the Gulf of Mexico. It proves that safety can bring helicopter operators, oil companies, manufacturers, technical contractors, professional organizations and government agencies together working to achieve a common goal. We did it when we turned the switch on with ADS-B in the Gulf of Mexico in 2009.” RWI