Seaplanes on the River Clyde

David West, Director of Loch Lomond Seaplanes, was unfortunately unable to attend the Firth of Clyde Forum Transport Conference. However, he did provide some background information on the proposed use of the River Clyde by Loch Lomond Seaplanes (LLS) which was included in the conference delegate pack on the day. His report is summarised here..

In early November 2004, Loch Lomond Seaplanes completed a noise trial at two locations on the River Clyde - Braehead and Yorkhill Quay. Acoustic engineers measured noise levels at sensitive locations in the surrounding area.

The trial was just the first step towards establishing a seaplane service from the River Clyde and much work remains to be done including full consultation with all responsible agencies and, of course, with all other water users. A great deal of technical work is also required to fulfill Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) requirements.

Seaplanes operate in many parts of the world including Alaska, the Maldives, Fiji, the Australian Great Barrier reef, Sydney Harbour, and the Norwegian Fjords. The Pacific North West of the USA and Canada, especially around Seattle, Vancouver and Victoria, is home to the most prolific use of the seaplane as a transport system.

The seaplane operation from the River Clyde would initially provide scheduled services to locations on the Firth of Clyde and the Kintyre peninsula. Initial market research has identified locations such as Arran, Bute, Lochgilphead and Inverary as possible destinations. Two nine seat aircraft are envisaged operating some ten flights per day. The core proposition of the business is to replace long car journeys with a 15-20 minutes seaplane flight.

Some commonly raised issues relating to seaplanes, including safety and pollution, were discussed in the update. LLS holds an Air Operators Certificate issued by the Civil Aviation Authority - one of the World’s foremost safety regulation agencies. All aspects of the operation are regularly audited by the authority.

LLS employs highly experienced pilots who, every six months, undergo recurrent flight training, testing and medicals conducted by authorised CAA examiners. Seamanship forms a large part of the licence requirements. Seaplane pilots are trained to work around boats and do not expect boaters to be aware of the aircraft.

Seaplane operation on the water is governed by Rule 18 of the International Regulations for Prevention of Collisions at Sea, – “A seaplane on the water shall, in general, keep well clear of all vessels and avoid impeding their navigation. In circumstances, however, where risk of collision exists, she shall comply with the rules of this Part”. In practice this means that a seaplane would not land or take-off if there was any chance of a confliction with any other watercraft. From the air, our bird’s eye view ensures that we can monitor all traffic before landing. Our take-off distance is around 500 metres and our landing distance is approximately 200 metres.

Seaplanes operate amongst other water traffic in many busy harbours and rivers worldwide. An excellent example of this interaction can be found on Lake Union in Seattle. The 580 acre lake is located in downtown Seattle and is a popular recreation spot for sailboats, motorboats, kayaks, and personal watercraft. Kenmore Air Harbour, the largest seaplane operator in North America, has been based there since 1946 and although there are some 30,000 take-offs and landings each year there has not been an accident in the last 58 years. There are no markings or special use areas established on the lake. In addition, boaters do not receive any training and are not licensed.¹

Vancouver and Victoria Harbours in British Columbia, Canada, each have around 40,000 seaplane movements per year and there have been no accidents. Victoria is a very small harbour and is almost as narrow as the River Clyde at Braehead. In summer it has over 1,000 boat movements and 100 seaplane movements per day.² The boat movements include cruise ships, car ferries, large ribs used by whale watching companies, small cross harbour ferries, and kayaks. ³

On the environmental side, water pollution is not an issue with seaplanes as they put absolutely nothing into the water – seaplanes leave no trace of their visit. Indeed, the Washington State Department of Ecology employs seaplanes to sample water quality. Many environmental agencies make extensive use of seaplanes; the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has their own fleet of seaplanes used for the safe and efficient surveillance of wildlife; the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use seaplanes extensively for biological work, including sea turtle and mammal surveys, and the biggest commercial user of seaplanes in the World is the U.S. National Parks System which utilizes the aircraft for park management.

For further information, enquiries to Loch Lomond Seaplanes are most welcome, telephone 0870 2421457 or see their website, www.lochlomondseaplanes.com

¹ http://www.seaplanes.org/advocacy/booklet.pdf

² http://www.victoriaharbour.org/Harbour_News_Fall_04.pdf Article on page 2 - “Traffic, what harbour traffic, she says”.

³ http://www.victoriaharbour.org/pdf/vhts.pdf