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A heliport is a small airport which has a helipad, suitable for use by , Powered lift craft, and other types of VTOL.
Designated heliports typically contain one or more touchdown and liftoff areas and may also have limited facilities such as fuel or hangars. In some larger towns and cities, customs facilities may also be available. The broader term vertiport refers to take-off/landing sites for all aircraft landing vertically.
Early advocates of helicopters hoped that heliports would become widespread, but they have become contentious in due to the excessive noise caused by helicopter traffic.
In American use a heliport is defined as "an area of land, water, or structure used or intended to be used for the landing and takeoff of helicopters and includes its buildings and facilities if any". A heliport will consist of one or more , which are defined as "a small, designated area, usually with a prepared surface, on a heliport, airport, landing/take-off area, apron/ramp, or movement area used for takeoff, landing, or parking of helicopters".
In Canada the term heliport is legally only used for an aerodrome certified for helicopter use.
The TLOF area is a load-bearing, generally paved area, normally centered in the FATO area, on which the helicopter lands or takes off. The FATO area is a defined area over which the pilot completes the final phase of the approach to a hover or a landing, and from which the pilot initiates take-off. The FATO area elevation is the lowest elevation of the edge of the TLOF area. The safety area is a defined area on a heliport surrounding the FATO area intended to reduce the risk of damage to helicopters accidentally diverging from the FATO area.
Police departments use heliports as bases for police helicopters, and larger departments may have large dedicated heliport facilities such as the LAPD Hooper Heliport.
Some feature rooftop heliports to serve the transport needs of executives or clients. Many of these rooftop sites also serve as Emergency Helicopter Landing Facilities (EHLF), in case emergency evacuation is needed. The U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles is an example.
Helipads are common features at , where they serve to facilitate helicopter air ambulance and for transferring patients into and out of hospital facilities. Some large may have multiple helipads, while most small hospitals have just one. Helipads allow hospitals to accept patients flown in from remote accident sites, where there are no local hospitals or facilities capable of providing the level of emergency care required.
The National EMS Pilots Association (NEMSPA) has published multiple white papers, surveys and safety recommendations for the enhancement of hospital helipad operations to improve patient safety.
An information box should also be included in the TLOF area, which provides the aircraft gross weight the helipad is rated for, as well as the maximum size helicopter the helipad has been designed to accommodate, which is based on the helicopter rotor diameter and overall length of the largest design helicopter that will service the helipad. Under normal conditions, it is standard practice to paint the maximum gross weight a helipad is designed to support in either metric tonnes, kilograms, or thousands of pounds, along with the maximum helicopter dimensions in metres or feet. Arrows are oftentimes painted on the heliport to indicate to pilots the preferred approach and departure paths. Other common markings can include ownership, radio frequencies, company logo(s), and magnetic north.
One alternative to lighting the TLOF if certain criteria are met, is to light the area of the FATO instead. Some locations, due to environmental conditions, illuminate the TLOF and FATO. Lighting should never constitute an obstruction that a helicopter may impact, and for this reason, in the U.S., heliport lighting is not allowed to extend above the TLOF or FATO more than . Current standards recommend that all perimeter lighting be green. Prior standards recommended amber lighting for perimeter lights; however this wavelength has been shown to interfere with night vision goggle (NVG) operations, when used with older incandescent lighting.
In the past, lighting has been traditionally incandescent, but increasingly, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are being incorporated, due to lower power requirements and increased life. While flood lights may be used to enhance surface operations, they should not interfere with flight crew night vision, and should be kept off during flight operations, and only used when conducting ground movement operations. To conduct night operations, a lighted wind cone is also required. At ground-based heliports, lead-in lights may be incorporated to identify the preferred approach / departure direction. Visual slope (such as HAPI, PAPI, etc.) are recommended options in both ICAO and FAA documents. While airports commonly use 6.6A direct current power, heliport lighting is normally . Radio control of the lighting by the pilot via an automated ground-based controller is also common.
The minimum recommended separation between flight paths is 135 degrees. A heliport approach path is broken down into two distinct airspace surfaces; the Approach Surface, and the Transitional Surface. The approach surface begins at each end of the heliport primary surface with the same width as the primary surface, and extends outward and upward for a horizontal distance of , where its width is . The slope of the approach surface is 8-to-1 for civil heliports. The Transitional Surfaces extend outward and upward from the lateral boundaries of the primary surface, and from the approach surfaces, at a slope of 2-to-1 for a distance of , measured horizontally from the centerline of the primary and approach surfaces. Approach paths can either be straight or curved to accommodate obstructions and avoidance areas.
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