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The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has grounded the entire fleet of regional helicopter operator Fortescue Helicopters and suspended its Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) over significant safety concerns.
According to the regulator, it had reason to believe that Fortescue Helicopters maintains a “deliberately and systematically non-compliant safety culture”, and regularly directs its pilots to operate outside of regulatory guidelines.
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The company, owned under the name Sky High Helicopters, performs charter, tourism, agriculture and mining operations across Western Australia and Queensland, with bases in Newman, Broome, Perth, Kojonup and Horn Island.
It operates a fleet of 22 helicopters, including the Robinson R22, R44 and R66, as well as Bell 206 LongRangers and Bell 407s.
CASA previously pledged to increase scrutiny around regional helicopter operators who skirt safety regulations in the wake of a high-profile fatal 2022 crash that killed Outback Wrangler star Chris “Willow” Wilson and landed co-star Matt Wright in court over evidence-tampering accusations.
The safety regulator has now made an application to the Federal Court for orders allowing its suspension of Sky High Helicopter’s AOC to continue, pending further investigation.
CASA’s initial probe into the operator found various instances of systemic safety breaches, including policies that direct helicopter pilots to withhold information about maintenance defects, maintain inaccurate records regarding flight time and service life of aircraft, and “regularly and deliberately” exceed regulated pilot duty times.
Additionally, Fortescue pilots were directed to operate company aircraft with outstanding maintenance matters, perform maintenance activities that they were unqualified to perform under aviation legislation, and operate aircraft that have not been maintained or operated per the manufacturer’s maintenance schedule or operating manual.
Fortescue Helicopters did not respond to a request for comment; however, its website states that it has “above industry and regulatory standard procedures outlined in our CASA approved operations manual to ensure industry best practice operations no matter what task is at hand”.
The company also stated that the safety of its pilots and clients is its “number one priority” and added that: “We believe safety is a company culture, not just a practice.”
Late last year, CASA called on the industry to report wrongdoing in the helicopter sector following the high-profile trial of Outback Wrangler star Matt Wright.
In an industry briefing column, chief executive Pip Spence said it would be “remiss of [her] not to reiterate the need for everyone to play a role in keeping aviation safe” following events over recent months that “led to a focus on helicopters in the Northern Territory”.
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