Bushfire Black Hawk to return
Scone-based Pay’s Helicopters is again bringing an ex-US Army UH-60A firefighting Black Hawk to Australia this summer after a first successful tour of duty last bushfire season. The refurbished Black Hawk, N563DJ, was shipped from Timberline Helicopters’ Sandpoint, Idaho facility in early November. It is expected to arrive in Scone in during the first week
ATSB publishes final report on Squirrel engine failure
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has released its final report into the engine failure and forced landing of AS350BA Squirrel, VH-SFX, which occurred over dense forest in the Whyanbeel Valley, Queensland on 2 November 2015. While conducting a low-altitude aerial weed spotting operation, the helicopter yawed twice in an uncommanded manner. In response, the
New PolAir base at Bankstown
Bankstown Airport has developed a draft a major development plan to upgrade and consolidate the NSW Police Force’s Aviation Support Branch operations into a single purpose-built facility at the airport. The proposed $35 million new base will be located north of the runways and just to the east of the north-western helipad and close to
Drone collides with US Army Black Hawk
A remotely-piloted aircraft collided with a US Army UH-60M Black Hawk while it was flying at 500ft over a residential neighbourhood on Staten Island, New York on September 23. Believed to be the first time a drone has collided with a helicopter in flight, the incident happened at about 1930 local time while two Black
The Toll Rescue Helicopter Service has partnered with Truth Data Insights of Forth Worth, Texas to provide flight data monitoring (FDM) of its fleet of eight Leonardo AW139s based in Sydney, Wollongong, Orange and Canberra to help identify operational risks and manage human errors. At the completion of each mission, flight data is wirelessly transmitted to
Ex-US Army Black Hawks to be refurbished in Australia for firefighting operations
Sikorsky Helitech, Kaan Air Australia and StarFlight Australia have signed an agreement to bring an initial 10 ex-US Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters into Australia to be refurbished for use locally in aerial firefighting, emergency services and disaster relief operations. Sikorsky Helitech will carry out the ‘as new’ condition refurbishments at its Pinkenba facility on
