AHIA appoints Paul Tyrrell as chief executive

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The Board of the Australian Helicopter Industry Association (AHIA) has appointed Paul Tyrrell as its inaugural chief executive, enabling the association to escalate its proactive development to promote the Australian helicopter industry. The AHIA said Tyrrell, a former Regional Aviation Association of … [Read more...]

Bushfire Black Hawk to return

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Timberline Helicopters’ UH-60A Black Hawk N563DJ is heading to Australia to work this bushfire season through Pay’s Helicopters of Scone, NSW. (Timberline Helicopters)

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 … [Read more...]

ATSB publishes final report on Squirrel engine failure

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An image of the AS350BA Squirrel, VH-SFX, involved in the incident. (ATSB)

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 … [Read more...]

New PolAir base at Bankstown

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An artist’s impression of the proposed new PolAir base at Bankstown Airport. (Crawford Architects)

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 … [Read more...]

Drone collides with US Army Black Hawk

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A file image of a UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter from the 3-238th General Support Aviation Battalion from Grand Ledge, Mich., land at Grayling Airfield, Grayling, Mich., Aug. 3, 2013. The 3-238th is participating in Exercise Northern Strike 2013, a joint multinational combined arms training exercise conducted in Michigan. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Scott Thompson/released)

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 … [Read more...]