Airbus Helicopters has been selected to supply new helicopters for the UK’s Military Flying Training System (MFTS). It will build 29 H135 and three larger H145 machines for Ascent, the joint venture between Babcock and Lockheed Martin that is managing the MFTS under a public-private partnership agreed eight years ago. 

A new contract awarded to Ascent by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) provides rotary-wing training from April 2018 until 2033 and is worth £1.1 billion. In addition to the new helicopters, the contract includes new training infrastructure, simulators and more than one-third of the instructors at RAF Shawbury, home of the UK’s Defence Helicopter Flying School (DHFS). Ascent will provide 59 of the 161 instructors for the new system. The DHFS is currently run by FB Heliservices, a subsidiary of Cobham, using AS350 Squirrels and Bell 412 Griffins. Cobham was the losing contender for the new rotary-wing MFTS, having proposed Leonard-Finmeccanica helicopters, reportedly the AW109 and AW139. 

Airbus Helicopters said that its subcontract is worth £500 million ($725 million) over 17 years, including support infrastructure and the initial training of instructors and maintenance personnel. It said that the UK will be the first country to receive Helionix, the advanced avionics kit for the H135. Although the new helicopters for the MFTS will be built at Donauworth in Germany, Airbus Helicopters has a large support hub at Oxford in the UK.

The MoD said that the rotary-wing contract is the final core element of the MFTS to be settled, and brings the total awarded value to £2.8 billion (over $4 billion). Previous contracts let by Ascent covered fast jet, rear crew and fixed-wing training. UK Minister of State for Defence Procurement Philip Dunne described the MFTS as “a state-of-the-art infrastructure” that will deliver “consistent, world-class training across the board.” 

Pegasus Design has won Airbus Helicopters’ design contest for the H160VIP cabin interior, the airframer announced here on Tuesday. At the Airbus Helicopters display (Hall 5, Booth N060), showgoers can experience the medium twin’s cabin interior, electric footstep and hinged doors, thanks to a virtual reality immersion tool.

The contest was launched in October 2015. It culminated in an evaluation by “a large panel of customers and specialists in luxury goods,” said Frédéric Lemos, Airbus Helicopters’ head of private and business aviation. Airbus’s in-house design team will now work closely with Pegasus Design, following the latter’s “design intention.” It will not be the first cooperation between the two companies, as Pegasus was previously selected to design the H175’s VIP and corporate cabin interiors.

The H160 test program has been progressing as planned, according to Airbus Helicopters, which targets EASA certification in 2018. The two prototypes (PT1 and PT2) have accumulated around 140 flight hours in 100 sorties. A third will join the fleet next year. Also taking part to the effort are two advanced ground test beds–Dynamic Helicopter Zero and System Helicopter Zero.

PT1, which first flew in June 2015 with Pratt & Whitney Canada engines, has been modified with Turbomeca Arranos and will be back flying this month. Meanwhile PT2 has been flying since January, powered by Arranos.

“This has been a very promising beginning with the Turbomeca engines, which are maturing,” Bernard Fujarski, head of the H160 program, told AIN. The aero-mechanic configuration of the rotorcraft has been “progressing rapidly,” he added. Night flight trials have begun.

The flight envelope has been “widely open,” Fujarski said. PT2 has flown several times at 20,000 feet. It has performed turns at 2.2 g. It also recently flew a planned test flight at greater than Vne speed. “We are totally on target,” Fujarski said.

Coming up are Arrano performance flights and cold- and hot-temperature tests. The aero-mechanic configuration is to be finalized soon.

Airbus opened the H160 order book at the U.S. Heli-Expo show in Louisville, Kentucky earlier this year, and has since signed some letters of intent.

Leonardo Helicopters (formerly known as AgustaWestland, Booth Z045) signed a three-year renewal on Tuesday of its GrandNew light twin distributorship agreement with Sloane Helicopters in the UK and Ireland. The accord extends to the new AW169 light intermediate helicopter for the UK and Irish executive/private market. More than 75 light helicopters–from the AW119, AB206 and the AW109 series–have been sold in the two countries under the partnership to date.

Also on Tuesday, Leonardo updated the distributorship agreement with Turkey’s Kaan Air, so far covering the AW119 single, the GrandNew light twin and the AW139 medium twin. The agreement is now extended to the AW169 and the AW189 super medium twin. On the Turkish commercial helicopter market, the two companies have already sold more than 30 aircraft.

Vector Aerospace has signed a three-year agreement with HeliSpeed through which the latter will provide pilots for Vector’s Fleetlands site in Gosport, UK. The contract covers pilots for the AS332 Super Puma, Leonardo-Finmeccanica AW139, Airbus Helicopters H125/AS350, H225, Sikorsky S-76 and S-92, and similar aircraft. The goal of this agreement is to help grow Vector’s UK facilities.

Simon Jones, Vector’s v-p of business development, commented, “As we look to grow in the global civil helicopter market, working with the world’s leading leasing companies, it is essential that we offer good value for money. Having access to HeliSpeed’s pool of vastly experienced pilots means we can utilize the skilled resource they offer, as and when required, and any cost savings can then be shared with our customers.

“Having this pool of type-specific pilots available will also complement our new and existing capabilities, which include supplemental type certificates [STCs], modifications and system integration activities, undertaken in conjunction with depth maintenance packages.”

Vector Aerospace (Booth K105) provides services to commercial and military customers for gas-turbine engines, components and helicopter airframes. Meanwhile, HeliSpeed Ltd. provides helicopter support for military and commercial operators and also offers helicopter transportation packages. 

Bell Helicopter officially opened a delivery center and two-bay paint facility at its location in Prague, Czech Republic on May 12. This adds to the facility’s maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) capabilities, making it the company’s regional customization, delivery and aftermarket service center in Europe.

The paint booth has been designed to accommodate all Bell civil helicopters, ranging from legacy products to those currently in development, among them the525 Relentlesssuper-medium twin. “By integrating the latest requirements for safety of operations, ease of maintenance, energy sustainability, environmental and ergonomics, we have been able to vastly improve the paint process,” the companysaid.

“Europe is a key market for us to continue to grow and develop our balanced business,” noted Bell Helicopter president and CEO Mitch Snyder. The company’s Prague facility is part of an expanding network of support and service facilities throughout Europe. Bell also has a supply center in Amsterdam, owns blade repair shop Rotor Blades in Warminster, UK, and counts 16 customer service facilities in Europe andRussia.

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Since 2010, when Bell acquired Czech company Aviation Service, the U.S. manufacturer has been better placed to extend its reach across the European market and beyond. It now has representation as far afield as Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

The helicopter manufacturer announced last year that it will be partnering with sister company TRU Simulation for the first Bell Helicopter regional training center in Valencia, Spain. This facility is expected to open later thisyear.

“Bell Helicopter is at a key point in its European investment plans,” said Patrick Moulay, sales and marketing v-p. “The training organization in Valencia is the last stone in the building. The first deliveries of the Bell 505s ordered by European operators is evidence of the dynamism in this region.”

In discussions with reporters last month in the Czech capital Prague, three European operators gave their perspective on their experience with Bell Helicopters’ aircraft. The meeting was staged as part of an effort by the Textron Aviation subsidiary to support its contention that it can challenge leading European manufacturers Airbus Helicopters and Leonardo-Finmeccanica (formerly AgustaWestland).

Viliam Krivàk, a pilot with Slovakian operator Air Transport Europe (ATE), spoke enthusiastically about the Bell 429. The company was formed in 1991 and is based at Poprad, close to the Tatra Mountains in the north of the country. It specializes in rescues and emergency medical operations.

In June 2015, the operator added its first Bell 429 to a fleet consisting of 11 Leonardo Helicopters AW109K2s. It has three more 429s on order.

“The cabin volume of the 429 gives us more comfortable working conditions,” said Krivàk. “We have been able to install all the equipment we need for our missions without any difficulty. As for the maintenance schedule for the aircraft, it is markedly lighter than other aircraft in the fleet. Taking account of the hours we fly, a detailed annual visit is all that’s required. That’s a big change.”

For his part, Christian Forghieri, managing partner and operations director with Italy’s Elicompany, told reporters that at the time his company bought a Bell 407GX in May 2015, “there was no comparable aircraft with the same performance,” The single-engine model is mainly used to carry passengers but is also pressed into service for surveillance missions and is equipped with an infra-red camera and laser tracking equipment.

“In addition to the [Airbus Helicopters] AS350BA we wanted to have a single-engine capable of delivering the highest levels of performance for the needs of our clients,” said Forghieri. “With the Bell we have gained speed, comfort, and the ability to carry an extra passenger. What’s more, we feel that the look of the aircraft is more flattering for the image of our business.”

The government of the Slovak Republic chose the Bell 429 because it increased the scope of the missions it can perform. It now has a pair of 429s, in addition to its two Mil Mi-171s. The main benefits it has derived from the fleet modernization are more usable space in the cabin, more operational flexibility, less onerous maintenance needs and more efficient engines. Among other roles, the aircraft are used to transport the Slovak President and official government delegations.

Leonardo Helicopters (Booth Z045) is here exhibiting an AW169 medium twin with a seven-passenger corporate interior, striving to maintain its claimed leading position in a fierce business. “We have 50 percent of the multi-engine corporate/VIP helicopter market,” said Manuela Barbarossa, head of the VIP/corporate segment for the company (formerly known as AgustaWestland). Leonardo’s fleet of VIP/corporate rotorcraft is estimated at 800 worldwide.

In the AW169, a clean-sheet design certified 10 months ago, corporate/VIP passengers do not have to use headsets to have a conversation, Barbarossa pointed out. “As for equipment, our customers are interested in everything they use at home or in their car. They see their helicopter as an extension of these,” she went on. Therefore, Leonardo is offering an iPad-controlled cabin management system including lighting, air conditioning and a map.

The GrandNew light twin is said to be the most popular model in Leonardo’s product range for VIP/corporate customers. Overall, “corporate/VIP helicopters represent about 20 percent of our sales,” Barbarossa said. She mentioned Europe and North America as the first two markets. “Emerging markets like Russia and China will benefit from evolving [airspace and ownership] rules,” she added. In the Middle East, regulations prevent individuals from owning a private helicopter, but some can be found under governmental registrations, she explained.

The economy has not helped recently, Barbarossa went on. She singled out Brazil and particularly the city of São Paulo, famous for executive helicopter commuting. But now, due to the recession, “people in São Paulo can't invest as much as they need to do.” She emphasized that, despite the soft market, Leonardo is maintaining a close relationship with its traditional customers.

The Anglo-Italian manufacturer is facing increased competition, since two new twins will be certified over the next couple of years. The Bell 525 Relentless will be a new contender in the heavy category, while Airbus has just unveiled the corporate/VIP version of the H160 medium twin.

The creation of Airbus Helicopters’ H Pilot Club was long overdue, according to new co-president Ari Vatanen–a Fin who is best known as a former rally driver and later as a member of the European Parliament. He has also been a private helicopter pilot since 1983, now flying an EC120.

Launched at the Paris Air Show last June, the H Pilot Club has some 1,200 members–including close to 60 women. “You don't fly helicopters by accident,” Vatanen said, referring to the passion shared by the pilot community. The club is still in the making, and no formal calendar has been established. “Let’s listen to people. Let’s ask them what kind of gathering they want to have,” Vatanen said.

His goal for the H Pilot Club is to have its members feel they are part of Airbus Helicopters, being proud of it and feeling important to the airframer. Vatanen sees a potential role in safety for the H Pilot Club. “Some light helicopter simulators are underused,” he said. He admitted to hopes for acommercial benefit in the long term.

Asked whether a board may be elected one day, Vatanen said he does not know yet, but described himself as a “democracy activist.” The other co-president is chief test pilot Hervé Jammayrac.

Monacair, which since January has operated scheduled helicopter flights between Monaco Heliport and Nice airport, has received the last of six Airbus H130s it ordered in September 2015, Airbus Helicopters (N060) announced yesterday.

Some 15,000 passengers have travelled on Monacair’s seven-minute route. With its six aircraft, the company will now be able to offer 20 flights in each direction per day. The H130 accommodates one pilot and up to six passengers.

The Airbus Helicopters H225 and AS332L2 remain under scrutiny after the H225 accident that claimed 13 lives on April 29. On that day, a CHC-operated H225 crashed near Bergen, Norway, as it was flying back from the Gullfaks B oil platform. The EASA has required inspections. Norway and the UK have suspended H225 and AS332L2 Super Puma commercial flights.

Investigators of the Norwegian air accident bureau (AIBN) are trying to determine how the main rotor detached in flight. This also happened in 2009 on a Bond-operated AS332L2 Super Puma in the UK North Sea. In that accident, the AAIB identified rupture of the main gearbox epicyclic module case as the cause of the rotor detachment. Investigators identified issues with design and maintenance as the cause.

Two weeks after the UKCAA and its Norwegian counterpart prohibited H225 commercial flights, they extended the grounding to the AS332L2. They cited “the close similarities between the two types.” The restrictions do not apply to search-and-rescue flights.

Almost simultaneously, on May 13, the AIBN published a preliminary report. The investigation is focusing on the main rotor assembly: the suspension bars (aka lift struts), the gearbox and the rotor head. At the time, investigators had found no obvious signs of fatigue but had not yet begun metallurgical testing. They were still collecting wreckage at the crash site.

Less than a week after the latest accident, the AIBN ruled out “human error on board.” As a result, Airbus Helicopters said investigators should look to design, production or maintenance for the cause. The airframer, after preliminary examination of the vertical shaft that drives oil pumps, believes the cause is different from the issue behind two serious incidents in 2012, a problem that has since been resolved through the replacement of certain serial-numbered main gearbox (MGB) bevel gear vertical shafts and replacement, if necessary, of each MGB bevel gear vertical shaft. Therefore, Airbus Helicopters quickly said its decision was “not to suspend flights of any nature for the EC225LP” [H225].

On May 3 the EASA issued an emergency AD, requiring inspections of the H225 before any further flight. The installation of the three suspension bars located around the main rotor assembly must be checked. The chip detectors of the main gearbox, as well as the oil filter, must be checked for absence of metallic particles. According to the AAIB, detection and identification of such particles could have prevented the 2009 accident. The third step of the mandated inspection is, for those helicopters equipped with the M’arms vibration health monitoring system (the H225’s Hums), to download data and check for any threshold exceedance.
 

Last week the FAA denied a quartet of petitions that sought to impose helicopter minimum altitudes; mandatory routings; and hover, orbit and pooling restrictions on tour and electronic news gathering (ENG) operators for all helicopters operating within the Los Angeles Basin. The petitions were filed by various groups of anti-helicopter activists under the umbrella group known as the Los Angeles Area Helicopter Noise Coalition. The Coalition had petitioned that non-emergency helicopters be required to fly at a minimum of 2,000 feet; that limits be imposed on hover and/or orbit times for tour and ENG helicopters; that the latter be forced to operate in pools; and that all helicopters flying along the coast do so at least half a mile offshore.

In denying the petitions, the FAA said they did not “meet the criteria to pursue rulemaking at this time” and that “three were unfeasible for safety reasons” and one “was not within the agency's regulatory authority.”  The FAA also noted that basin-area helicopter operators had developed a series of voluntary noise mitigation initiatives, among them flying higher over local noise hot spots, and that the FAA had developed a voluntary offshore helicopter route that it expects to publish in June.

A mock-up of a new high-speed compound helicopter has undergone wind-tunnel testing at an Airbus Helicopters facility, the airframer announced today. The tests are said to have proved the viability of the design in terms of efficiency, sustainability and performance.

According to Airbus Helicopters, a demonstrator, dubbed LifeRCraft, is currently being built as part of the Clean Sky 2 European research program. A preliminary design review is expected at year-end and the first flight is scheduled for 2019.

“Our Clean Sky 2 demonstrator will help make speed smarter by seeking the best trade-off between cost-efficiency, sustainability and mission performance; we want to break the cost barrier usually associated with greater speed and range and pave the way for new missions in 2030,” said Jean-Brice Dumont, Airbus Helicopters' chief technical officer. LifeRCraft builds on Airbus's X3 demonstrator, which was unveiled in 2010 and made its final flight to the Paris Le Bourget air and space museum in 2014. The X3dashed at a claimed 255 knots in level flight in 2013.

The Norwegian air accident investigation bureau (AIBN) has made progress in explaining the April 29 crash of a CHC-operated Airbus H225, and from this juncture the agency is considering only three possibilities. In an interim report released late last week, the bureau cites the three possible causes for in-flight separation of the main rotor as failure of the epicyclic module, a lift-strut attachment or the main gearbox conical housing.

Meanwhile, Airbus Helicopters said seven potential initial events have been considered. Of these, only one—failure of the lift-strut attachment—is deemed “probable.” The airframer pointed out that analysis of the helicopter’s maintenance history has just started.

The recordings on the CVFDR show that everything appeared to be normal until a sudden catastrophic failure developed over the course of one or two seconds, the AIBN said. The CVFDR recordings ended abruptly at the same time. However, the French BEA succeeded in downloading information from the flight data monitoring system that extends 13 seconds beyond the CVFDR data.

Detailed metallurgical examinations have been under way since May 19 but are said to be still at an early stage.

Enstrom Helicopter resumed flight testing of its new TH180 last Thursday, a two-seat model aimed at the training market. A second flight-test vehicle joined the program to restart testing, the company told AIN yesterday. On its first flight, test pilot William Taylor performed hover, forward flight and rigging checks on the new helicopter.

The flight-test program had been halted after a hard off-airport landing destroyed the program's first test vehicle on February 12. The pilot walked away with only minor injuries. While an official cause of that accident is pending, preliminary indications are that a piece of flight-test instrumentation in the main drive system failed and disconnected the engine from the drive train.

Enstrom plans to add a thirdflight-test vehicle to the program later this summer as part of an accelerated program aimed at gaining certification for the helicopter next year. The company announced the TH180 in 2014 and plans to use the type certificate basis and rotor system of the larger three-seat 280FX to speed development.

The TH180 will be powered by a 210-hp Lycoming HIO-390 piston engine and features an engine governor and electric clutch switch, robust landing gear and a useful load of 700 pounds, including a standard 40-gallon fuel capacity. Target price is less than $400,000.

The European Aviation Safety Agency issued an emergency airworthiness directive (AD) on June 2 to ground the fleet of Airbus Helicopters AS332L2 Super Puma and EC225LP (H225) models, after more evidence of a potential unsafe condition in the main rotor assembly was discovered. This follows an April 29 crash of an EC225LP near Bergen, Norway.

Feedback received after an AD requiring inspections revealed issues with the suspension bars, which are also known as lift struts. Some tightening torque values on the attachment bolts of the fittings were found to be out of tolerance. Some washers were incorrectly positioned in the fitting assemblies. Those components are involved in scheduled maintenance, Airbus confirmed.

According to EASA, the latest report from the Accident Investigation Board Norway (AIBN), “indicated metallurgical findings of fatigue and surface degradation in the outer race of a second stage planet gear of the main gearbox epicyclic module.” However, the agency pointed out that it cannot yet be determined whether this was “a contributing causal factor or subsequent failure from another initiating factor.”

The EASA-mandated grounding does not extend to search-and-rescue (SAR) operations. Norway and the UK aviation authorities, however, have issued directives that also ground the types for search and rescue missions.

In a written statement, Airbus commented: “In light of the new findings from the AIBN's preliminary investigation report, Airbus Helicopters supports EASA's cautious approach. We continue to fully support EASA, our customers and the ongoing investigation by providing information in full transparency, while working with the wider industry to ensure safety.”

Croatia and Tunisia are the first nations to receive OH-58D Kiowa Warrior armed scout helicopters retired by the U.S. Army. Tunisia, announced most recently as a recipient, will use the helicopters to battle Islamic extremists, according to the Department of Defense.

The Army is divesting approximately 340 single-engine Bell OH-58Ds over three years as a consequence of its 2013 Aviation Restructure Initiative, which shifted responsibility for the armed reconnaissance mission to AH-64D/E Apache attack helicopters in combination with unmanned aircraft. The Kiowas are being made available through the Excess Defense Articles and foreign military sales (FMS) programs, and multiple nations have expressed interest in the aircraft, according to the service.

Croatia became the first nation to acquire excess Kiowas when its defense ministry signed a letter of offer and acceptance for 16 helicopters in mid-February. “This first OH-58D FMS case represents a significant amount of hard work and research on the part of many organizations, including the Non-Standard Rotary Wing Project Office, the Armed Scout Helicopter Project Office and the AMCOM [Aviation and Missile Command] Security Assistance Management Directorate,” the Army said.

“While this first case is in a basic U.S. government configuration aircraft, many countries are expressing interest in fielding upgraded versions of the aircraft,” the service added.

In early May, the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress of the possible FMS to Tunisia of Kiowa Warrior equipment, training and support, including 10 AGM-114R Hellfire missiles and 82 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System rounds, in a transaction valued at $100 million. Under a separate notification, Tunisia was approved to receive 24 OH-58Ds through the Excess Defense Articles program. That use case “is approved and set for execution,” the Army said in response to an AIN inquiry.

The helicopters “will improve Tunisia’s capability to conduct border security and combat operations against terrorists, including Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant in Libya, and Ansar al-Sharia, Tunisia,” the DSCA notice stated.

The OH-58Ds are being sent to both Croatia and Tunisia from the Army’s 1st Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment at Fort Bragg, N.C. In April, the 1-17th conducted a final flyover of Fort Bragg and Fayetteville, N.C., with all 32 of its Kiowa Warriors.

In its recently released fiscal fourth-quarter financial results, offshore helicopter operator Bristow Group hinted for the first time that it might be forced to cancel orders or at least defer some new helicopter deliveries and will turn back some leased helicopters. The company’s quarterly revenue fell to $375 million, down nearly $44 million year-over-year, and it reported a loss of $25.25 million versus a profit of $15 million from the year-ago period.

The situation would have been much worse without a big quarterly year-over-year jump in revenues from Bristow’s UK search and rescue (SAR) contract, from $11 million to $62 million, and its fixed-wing operations, from $42 million to $53.5 million, as the company saw oil and gas revenues fall off a cliff, declining 29 percent to $255 million from $360 million from the year-ago quarter. Following the release of the results, Bristow CEO Jonathan Baliff told analysts that he thinks the company is “kind of seeing the bottom” of the market.

Baliff said Bristow’s fleet of Sikorsky S-92s is being used to compensate in markets adversely affected by the EASA-mandated grounding of the Airbus H225 series following a fatal crash in Norway on April 29. “We continue to utilize our mostly owned S-92 fleet in response to the grounded H225 fleet. In this challenging environment, we are seeing real success with clients signing new contracts.”

The first Boeing AH-6i light attack/reconnaissance helicopter destined to serve the Saudi Arabia National Guard (SANG) was in the final stage of assembly this week at the manufacturer’s Mesa, Ariz. facility. Company officials expect to deliver the helicopter in mid-June.

During a press trip Boeing hosted at its Mesa production facility, reporters viewed the first SANGAH-6i, numbered 61001, which was in the last week of build, before entering flight testing. Seven AH-6is were cycling through assembly, and Boeing officials said 12 are scheduled—half of the originally planned 24 helicopters. Fuselages for the first AH-6is destined for Saudi Arabia are being provided by MD Helicopters, with sub-assembly taking place in Monterrey, Mexico.

AH-6is can be fitted with a combination of Hellfire missile and rocket launchers, miniguns and machine guns. The helicopter’s integrated, digital cockpit and mission computer were derived from the Apache.

The Defense Contract Management Agency will perform acceptance flight testing of the helicopters before turning them over to the Saudi government. Boeing expects to begin training several Saudi pilots in Mesa, as well as pilots who will serve as trainers in Saudi Arabia.

The U.S. Army awarded Boeing a $234 million foreign military sales contract to supply 24 AH-6is to Saudi Arabia in August 2014. The armed, single-engine helicopters were contained in a huge weapons deal the U.S. and Saudi Arabian governments negotiated in 2010 that included Boeing F-15 fighters and AH-64E Apache attack helicopters as well as other aircraft.

Separately, Boeing was awarded a $667 million FMS contract to supply 24 AH-64E Apaches to Qatar, the Department of Defense announced on June 7. Work on the contract is expected to be completed by May 2020.

A Chinese consortium today finalized a $790 million, 10-year contract for 100 Airbus H135 light twins to be assembled in Qingdao, Shandong Province beginning in 2018. The consortium is composed of China Aviation Supplies Holding Company (CAS), Qingdao United General Aviation Industrial Development Company (Qingdao United) and CITIC Offshore Helicopter Co. Ltd (COHC). A letter of intent for the deal was announced last year.

The agreement was signed today in Beijing's Great Hall of People, in the presence of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The H135 has gained popularity in China in recent years, performing various parapublic, corporate and tourism missions. Worldwide, nearly 1,200 H135s are in service and the fleet has logged more than three million flight hours.

“With the further opening up of the Chinese skies and the increasing growth in the civil and parapublic segments, China is gearing up to be the biggest market for helicopters in years to come,” said Norbert Ducrot, head of Airbus Helicopters China and North Asia region. The company forecasts a demand for sales of up to 600 light-twin helicopters in China over the next 20 years.

U.S.-based Air Medical Group Holdings (AMGH) is partnering with Aviators Air Rescue of India to provide the first dedicated helicopter EMS (HEMS) operations in that country. The program will use a trio of specially equipped Airbus Helicopter H130 singles beginning later this year. Aviators Air Rescue will operate the service with technical expertise and standards provided by AMGH, the parent company of Air Evac Lifeteam.

The helicopters and pilot and crew training will be supplied by Airbus Helicopters in Grand Prairie, Texas. Support in India will be provided by Airbus Helicopters India. AMGH and Aviators have options to acquire additional helicopters for use in the venture.

The service's rollout follows the recent release of Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) regulatory guidelines that allow the operation of single-engine, dual-pilot EMS helicopters. Apart from the two pilots, the H130 can accommodate one stretcher, two medical attendants and one additional seat. Aviators will offer HEMS through state governments, rescue groups, hospitals, clinics and public and private companies, as well as to individuals through private membership subscriptions for the service.

The global fleet of 275 Sikorsky S-92 helicopters recently surpassed one million flight hours in less than 12 years. The first S-92 was delivered in 2004. While most of the fleet serves the offshore oil-and-gas industry, the S-92 is also used for civil search and rescue and 11 nations use it for head-of-state transport, a mission it will begin for the United States with the HMX“Marine One” fleet as VH-92A in 2020. 

Working for oil and gas, the S-92 has an availability rate of better than 95 percent. It also has an accident rate that is less than one-tenth the U.S. civil multi-turbine engine helicopter rate.

This year the American Helicopter Society International honored the S-92 program with the Harry T. Jensen Award for its outstanding safety record. In 2002, the S-92 received the Robert J. Collier Trophy from the National Aeronautic Association. The award is given annually in recognition of improving the performance, efficiency and safety of air or space vehicles.