Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. company announced today that its Prague location officially opened a new paint facility and delivery center –providing full aircraft completion and delivery capabilities to its European customers. “Bell Helicopter’s continued investment in the region reinforces our commitment to our European customers to provide an in-region facility that offers...
Marignane, Airbus Helicopters has been awarded a contract by the French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) to retrofit the avionics suite of the 35 EC145 helicopters operated by the Sécurité Civile, an agency of the French Ministry of Interior that performs critical search and rescue and medical evacuation services throughout the French territory. As part of this retrofit, all...
It is less than a week since CHC filed for bankruptcy protection – so too early to see exactly how the company will look when it (surely) emerges from Chapter 11. But early court filings give some clues. Thedeclaration by Michael Cox, vice chairman of Seabury – CHC’s restructuring advisers – outlines a much smaller helicopter operator. CHC operates more than 230 helicopt...
Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. company, announces plans to showcase the versatile capabilities of the Bell 412EPI through a series of customer demonstration flights in Asia Pacific. Bell Helicopter last demonstrated the Bell 412’s capability in 2013 in the region and since then has attracted a number of customers including the Philippine Department of National Defense and the Gover...
Robinson Helicopter’s new R44 Cadet trainer received FAA certification on Friday. The Cadet has the same airframe, rotor system and Lycoming O-540-F1B5 as the R44 Raven I, but the Cadet’s rear seats are removed, maximum takeoff weight is lowered to 2,200 pounds and the engine is derated to 210 hp for takeoff and 185 hp continuous. Robinson beg...
The University of New Mexico Hospital has launched a new helicopter initiative as part of its Lifeguard Emergency Services division. The initiative that starts on 10 May will involve its newest emergency medical transport aircraft a specially equipped Agusta 119Kx Koala helicopter. The helicopter is owned by SevenBar Aviation and is equipped with medivac and crisis equipment including blood res...
Airbus Helicopters maintains it is addressing a number of persistent criticisms levelled at the Tiger attack rotorcraft by its Australian customer, despite the likely early retirement of the platform from the nation’s inventory. In fact, so confident is the manufacturer in the improvements it is bringing to bear on the Tiger, it believes the platform can be offered as a replacement for th...
After a six month hiatus, ground tests have resumed on the third prototype (A/C3) of the AgustaWestland AW609 tiltrotor. The aircraft recently underwent restrained ground testing with all engines and systems online after testing was suspended following a fatal air crash on October 30, 2015, which cost the lives of two test pilots. According to Leonardo-Finmeccanica, the recent ground tests invo...
Bristow Caribbean has signed a contract with BHP Billiton in Trinidad and Tobago to operate a Sikorsky S-92 aircraft for the oil and gas industry in the region. The operations have started this week. This is the first time an S-92 is being operated in the Trinidad and Tobago oil and gas market and the first time that Bristow is using an S-92 in the country. A spokeswoman for Bristow Group sa...
Norway’s SHT air accident investigation board is to resume its search for missing components from the Airbus Helicopters H225 which crashed near Bergen on 29 April. In a statement, SHT says the main focus of its search will be “for parts connected to the main gearbox”, and that this will “continue as long as required”. Preliminary information contained in an eme...
This year has seen Starspeed operate in its 60thcountry: Something that 40 years ago would have seemed impossible. When Starspeed started in the VIP helicopter management and charter business in 1978, the privately owned aircraft were mainly small, single-engined helicopters. They were used only in good weather, within a locally defined area of operations, for short hops as an alternative...
Offshore helicopter operator CHC Group has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to allow it time to restructure its financial assets. The company said it expects day-to-day operations to continue without interruption during a court-supervised process. The company filed “voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankrupt...
