Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre - Helipad Turbulence Assessment

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Sunnybrook's new rooftop helipad provides faster access to Canada's largest trauma centre.  

The new helipad means that the most critically ill and severely injured patients gain valuable minutes in getting to life-saving care.  Construction of the rooftop helipad was completed in fall 2019. Air ambulances began landing on the new rooftop helipad in January 2020.  

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  • The Challenge

    Safe and reliable helicopter operations can be affected by highly localized wind and turbulence conditions.

  • Our Approach

    We conducted wind tunnel testing to determine wind and turbulence conditions above the helipad in RWDI’s state-of-the-art atmospheric boundary layer wind tunnel.

  • The Outcome

    We determined the helipad performance relative to acceptable turbulence conditions for helicopter operations during landings and take-offs. It was concluded that the helipad meets the performance requirements 99% of the time.