A helipad is a landing area or platform for

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...

s and

powered lift A powered lift aircraft takes off and lands vertically under engine power but uses a fixed wing for horizontal flight. Like helicopters, these aircraft do not need a long runway to take off and land, but they have a speed and performance simila ...

aircraft. While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fabricated helipad provides a clearly marked hard surface away from obstacles where such aircraft can land safely. Larger helipads, intended for use by helicopters and other vertical take-off and landing aircraft (VTOL), may be called ''vertiports.'' An example is Vertiport Chicago, which opened in 2015.

Usage

Helipads may be located at a heliport or

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

where fuel,

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airsp ...

and service facilities for aircraft are available. Most helipads are located remote from populated areas due to sounds, winds, space and cost constraints. However, some

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ri ...

s maintain a helipad on their roofs in order to accommodate

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) ...

services. Some basic helipads are built on top of highrise buildings for evacuation in case of a major fire outbreak. Major police departments may use a dedicated helipad at heliports as a base for police helicopters. Large

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

s and

oil platform An oil platform (or oil rig, offshore platform, oil production platform, and similar terms) is a large structure with facilities to extract and process petroleum and natural gas that lie in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platfor ...

s usually have a helipad on board for emergency use. In such a case, the terms " helicopter deck", "helideck", or "helodeck" are used. NH90 ÅUCS flygplats maj 2012

Helipads are common features at

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergen ...

s where they serve to facilitate

medical evacuation Medical evacuation, often shortened to medevac or medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to wounded being evacuated from a battlefield, to injured patients being evacuated from the scene of a ...

air ambulance Air medical services is a comprehensive term covering the use of air transportation, aeroplane or helicopter, to move patients to and from healthcare facilities and accident scenes. Personnel provide comprehensive prehospital and emergency and cri ...

transfers of patients to trauma centers or to accept patients from remote areas without local hospitals or facilities capable of providing the level of

emergency medicine Emergency medicine is the Medical specialty, medical speciality concerned with the care of illnesses or Injury, injuries requiring immediate medical attention. Emergency physicians (often called “ER doctors” in the United States) continuous ...

required. In urban environments, these heliports are sometimes located on the roof of the hospital. Rooftop helipads sometimes display a large two-digit number, representing the weight limit (in thousands of pounds) of the pad. In addition, a second number may be present, representing the maximum rotor diameter in feet. Location identifiers are often, but not always, issued for helipads. They may be issued by the appropriate aviation authority. Authorized agencies include the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...

in the United States,

Transport Canada Transport Canada (french: Transports Canada) is the department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transporta ...

in Canada, the

International Civil Aviation Organization The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...

, and the International Air Transport Association. Some helipads may have location identifiers from multiple sources, and these identifiers may be of different format and name.

Construction

Helipads are usually constructed out of concrete and are marked with a circle and/or a letter "H", so as to be visible from the air. However, they are not always constructed out of concrete; sometimes

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...

fighters will construct a temporary helipad out of timbers to receive supplies in remote areas. Rig mats may be used to build helipads. Landing pads may also be constructed in extreme conditions such as on ice. The world's highest helipad, built by

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, is located on the

Siachen Glacier The Siachen Glacier is a glacier located in the eastern Karakoram range in the Himalayas at about , just northeast of the point NJ9842 where the Line of Control between India and Pakistan ends. At long, it is the longest glacier in the Kara ...

at a height of 21,000 feet (6400 m) above sea level.

Portable helipads

A portable helipad is a helipad structure with a rugged frame that can be used to land helicopters in any areas with slopes of up to 30 degrees, such as hillsides, riverbeds and boggy areas. Portable helipads can be transported by helicopter or

powered-lift A powered lift aircraft VTOL, takes off and lands vertically under engine power but uses a fixed-wing aircraft, fixed wing for horizontal flight. Like helicopters, these aircraft do not need a long runway to take off and land, but they have a spe ...

to place them where a VTOL needs to land, as long as there are no insurmountable obstructions nearby.

Gallery

File:Sun America Building Helipad.jpg, Helipad atop the

SunAmerica Center 1999 Avenue of the Stars, formerly SunAmerica Center, and before that, AIG–SunAmerica Center, is a 39-story, skyscraper in Century City, Los Angeles, California. The tower was completed in 1990. Designed by Johnson Fain, It is the twentieth ...

in Century City, California, USA File:Uni hosp coventry air ambulance 12l07.JPG, The main helipad at

University Hospital Coventry University Hospital Coventry is a large National Health Service (NHS) hospital situated in the Walsgrave on Sowe area of Coventry, West Midlands, England, north-east of the city centre. It is part of the University Hospitals Coventry and War ...

in England File:Oryx helicopter.jpg, A helicopter touches down on a helideck on board the High Speed Vessel ''Swift'' File:4303031141 4b89069e29 bHelicoptère.jpg, Floating helipads of the American hospital ship waiting for helicopters to bring in

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...

wounded. File:Bitexco Financial Tower Helipad.jpg,

Bitexco Financial Tower Bitexco Financial Tower ( vi, Tháp Tài chính Bitexco) is a skyscraper in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. At its completion in 2010, it became the tallest building in Vietnam and kept this status until January 2011, when it was surpassed by Keangn ...

Helipad, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam File:USS San Antonio flight deck.jpg, Helipads on the flight deck of

USS San Antonio USS ''San Antonio'' (LPD-17), the lead ship of San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, her class of amphibious transport dock or landing platform dock, is the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the city of San Antonio, Tex ...

File:Phare-d-Eddystone-Rocks.jpg, Helipad atop the

Eddystone Lighthouse The Eddystone Lighthouse is a lighthouse that is located on the dangerous Eddystone Rocks, south of Rame Head in Cornwall, England. The rocks are submerged below the surface of the sea and are composed of Precambrian gneiss. View at 1:50000 ...

offshore Rame Head File:Yorkshire Air Ambulance landing at Leeds General Infirmary (20th October 2016) 003.jpg, Yorkshire Air Ambulance helicopter landing on the roof of the Leeds General Infirmary

References

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Bibliography