chc rotortales_02.2006

03AW 139 to Den Helder

06Emergency atHumberside

07Vision-One

09Boy Rescued

12Donation to Dili

15Crewman’s SilentOrdeal Over

RotorTalesISSUE 02.2006CHC HELICOPTER CORPORATION EMPLOYEE MAGAZINE

NEW TECHNOLOGY>NEW AIRCRAFT>

NEW LOOKIf there’s one constant at CHC it is change. Over the years CHC has brought together many of the world’s pioneer helicopter companies: British International,Canadian, Court, Helikopter Service, Lloyd, Okanagan, Sealand, Schreiner and others. Uniting these pioneer companies under one banner and building on theirstrengths, CHC has constantly sought innovation to improve service and safety.

Now CHC is leading the industry in technological change – and introducing a new look for the CHC fleet.

continued page 04

Giving back to the

Comm

unity feature

pages 10 -14

Craig L. Dobbin, O.C.As you may know, I recentlyterminated discussionswith a private equity groupthat was interested in taking CHC private.I announced the termina-tion of the discussions for

one main reason: we are worth more thanthey were willing to pay. In hindsight I amdelighted the deal did not go through.We are at one of the most exciting time inthe Company’s history. We are building a foundation and preparing for growththat I believe will make CHC a householdname around the world. Our successdepends on establishing a strong relation-ship between operations and Heli-One,and I am proud of your continuing effortsto make this new dynamic work smoothly.

Corporations can move never standstill, they either move forward or decline.

At CHC, we are most definitely movingonto bigger and better things. We are infirmly control of our destiny and I see usdoubling the size of the CHC Group with-in five years. The due diligence process we just went though has provided us withan even deeper insight into our operationsand has helped us identify areas where we can make further improvements.Our focus is on continued growth andexpansion in all markets. As we grow,the value of this Company will continue to increase and the career opportunitiesfor all employees will expand.

We continue to lead the industry with new technology aircraft, and I am pleasedto see the smooth introduction of theAW139 to Den Helder and soon to NorthDenes. Next up is the EC 155 and EC 225.CHC has always been at the forefrontwhen it comes to introducing new aircraft,

Notes & Comment – Moving on to Bigger and Better Things

EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

Sylvain AllardIn April, CHC hosted itssecond annual HelicopterSafety & Quality Summithere in Vancouver. TheCHC Safety & QualitySummit is fast becomingone of the industry’s

premier safety events and I congratulatethe organizers, particularly CHC VP-Safety & Quality, Greg Wyght, on the success of the event. The Safety & QualitySummit is not just a CHC event, but anindustry event, attracting representativesfrom Shell, BP, Petrobras and others.I would like to see the summit continue to grow and attract individuals from outside organizations.

As you know our goal is continuousimprovement in safety and quality. Thisgoal is not limited to CHC operations.Improvement in safety across our industryis not only good for our peers and our

passenger, it is good for business. As wecontinue to improve helicopter safetyrecords, the industry will expand into newareas, offering new opportunities for CHCand provide transportation benefits to alarger population. On a more direct level,our insurance rates will improve as theindustry’s safety record improves.

This year’s summit featured the some of the world’s leading experts on humanfactors in aviation, Dr. Scott Shappell,Dr. Douglas Wiegmann, Dr. Albert Boquet.Shappell and Wiegmann literally wrote the book on error management: A HumanError Analysis: The Human FactorsAnalysis and Classification System. If youwere not able to attend the summit, Iencourage you to read this book. Only byrecognizing human factors as the mostdominant cause of accidents in our indus-try and making the effective managementof human error a constant across theentire organization can we fulfill our man-date of constant improvement.

Another important speaker at the summit was the US FAA’s David Downey,co-chair of the International HelicopterSafety Team (IHST). As David pointedout, the IHST’s goal is to reduce the helicopter accident rate by 80 per cent

within 10 years, bringing it in line withthat of major air carriers. I applaud thiseffort, and trust that when it is reached, asimilarly challenging target will be set anda mindset of perpetual improvement willbe entrenched. Although CHC’s rate isalready in line with major air carriers, ourgoal is to reduce it further, by setting othermeasurable milestones along the way,such as a 10 per cent increase in occurrencereporting and increased sharing ofinformation.

To that end, we have just launched the second generation of SQID (SafetyQuality Integrated Database), which willbe available to all operations within CHCand to Heli-One. SQID will catalogue alloccurrence reports in one database whichwill be available to all employees.

In addition to SQID, we are rolling out a company-wide CHC intranet to linkall areas of the CHC group, and to furtherencourage the sharing of information.The CHC Intranet will link all existingemployee intranets and provide importantnew safety information including sum-maries of all significant occurrences andrelated news. Currently being tested inVancouver, the site will soon be available at all locations. Stay tuned.

CHC Safety QualitySummit Sets the Standard

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

02 CHC HELICOPTER CORPORATION EMPLOYEE MAGAZINE

and I recognize that these major changesare not without challenges. I thank allthose involved for getting us through theintroduction phases safely and efficiently;you’ve paved the way for several years ofsmooth flying.

I would like thank the many CHC employees who have donated their timeand money to social causes close to theirhearts. Many of your stories are told in thisissue of Rotortales, from building homesin Africa to teaching children in Myanmar.I encourage everyone at CHC to considerthe important job of helping those lessfortunate. Pick a project or an issue youfeel passionate about – an area where youcan really make a difference – and getinvolved. We have some great people atCHC.

03CHC HELICOPTER CORPORATION EMPLOYEE MAGAZINE

Petra van SaazeBusiness Unit Leader, The Netherlands

This year CHC Helicopters Netherlands in Den Helder adds four new-generationhelicopters to the fleet. On January 19ththe first of two offshore, North Sea compliant AW139s was introduced by way of a customer reception at Den HelderBase. Superior power and the newest safety features make these aircraft welcome additions to Den Helder.

The Agusta-Westland AW139 is a medi-um, twin-engine helicopter which meetsthe latest stringent standards imposed bythe European Aviation Safety Agency(EASA) and incorporates the latest tech-nologies in safety equipment and capacity.Later this year the second AW139 will beintroduced, along with two new EC155s.The first customers to use these aircraft areTotal, Wintershall and Petro-Canada.

A prominent feature of the AW139 is astate-of-the-art cockpit instrumentationwith LCD-screens and outstanding payload/range.

PerformanceThe AW139 can carry 12 passengers (1150 kg) – plus the legally required 30min reserve fuel – over a range of about226 kilometres (125 NM) round trip,without refuelling. This is the approximateequivalent of a trip from Den Helder tothe F2 block and back.

Another advantage of this powerful aircraft is its remarkable single-engine performance capabilities. In the event ofan engine failure during take-off, the take-off can continue without losingheight. With a less powerful aircraft a continuous take-off is also possible, but inthat case height will be traded for speed.

SafetyAn important safety feature is a TrafficCollision Avoidance System (TCAS). Thisequipment not only detects other aircraftin the vicinity (important in uncontrolledairspace), but will also provide informationon their altitude and moving direction.In addition, the crashworthiness of thecabin structure, including seats and fueltanks, has been improved. The aircraft has

a ail-safe design and systems redundancybased on the latest standards, which areincorporated throughout the helicopter.

In the unlikely event of a ditching,the helicopter can:● Deploy floatation gear automatically,

so no manual – pilot initiated – actions are needed.

● Tolerate waves, when floating up to state 5 (which is wave height 8 – 12 feet), compared to sea state 4 for former generations.

● Launch external life rafts both from the cockpit and from outside the helicopter.CHC is very pleased with the addition

of these new technology aircraft to thefleet.

CHC EUROPE

CHC INTRODUCES THE

AW139 IN DEN HELDER

A prominent feature of theAW139 is a state-of-the-artcockpit instrumentation withLCD-screens and outstandingpayload/range.

the evolution of design

A new look for CHC is being unveiled around the world this year. The new liveryincorporates the existing colour scheme into a new design that reflects the new CHCand better suits new aircraft designs: S-92, AW139, S-76C+, and will be applied toexisting aircraft such as the Bell 412.


his year and next CHC will introducemore new aircraft types than any

other operator: the S-92, AW 139, EC 155,EC 225 and additional S-76 C+ aircraft;leading the way just as pioneers Carl Agar,Morten Henke, Carl Schreiner and otherswould have done. It’s an evolution, ratherthan revolution, which is why CHC haschosen a new look that represents the natural progression of the establishedbrand. The new livery, which is beingintroduced to new and refurbished aircraftaround the world this year, features anextended, sweeping white line that suitsthe graceful curves of these new aircraftdesigns. By maintaining the existing redand blue colours, CHC is able to build on its brand strengths of safety, reliabilityand customer service excellence.

The CHC reddish orange representsour commitment to safety, and is the safestcolour for aircraft in terms of visibility in the greatest range of sky conditions.The deep blue represents the sky and ourvision of constant improvement, as well as our ability to take customers where theycould not otherwise go. At the same time,the sweeping white stripe wraps itselfaround the entire aircraft, representing the total helicopter support provided byour newest division, Heli-One.

Most recently CHC announced theawarding of a five-year contract renewal(plus three one-year options) with MaerskOil & Gas AS for the provision of threenew Sikorsky S-92 helicopters in supportof Maersk’s offshore oil and gas operationsin the Danish sector of the North Sea.These dedicated new aircraft will be intro-duced starting in July, 2007. We are bring-ing the S-92 to distant markets, such asMiri, Malaysia, where on March 7 CHCintroduced Asia’s first S-92 to MalaysianHelicopter Services.

In April, CHC introduced the firstAgusta Westland AW 139 helicopter to theUK sector of the North Sea as part of acontract award from Tullow Oil. CHC hasalso introduced this new aircraft type tothe Dutch sector of the North Sea, wherethe very first aircraft in the new livery wasunveiled in Den Helder earlier this year.Subsequent to the introduction of the AW

New Lookcontinued from page 01

139s, CHC will bring two new EC155 air-craft to the Netherlands operations.

Commencing in April, 2007, CHC willintroduce two new Eurocopter EC 225 air-craft as part of its commitment to a five-year contract with Total E&P UK plc. CHCis also investing in a fleet of three specially-modified AW139s and four S-92s toundertake civilian search and rescue workfor the UK’s Maritime and CoastguardAgency from July 2007. These aircraft willfeature new technology such as forward-looking infra red and low light cameras,Nightsun searchlight, a satellite communi-cations system featuring a flight-followingtracking facility, Skyshout public addresssystem, and dual high speed hoists.

CHC has also deployed new SikorskyS92 aircraft in both the Norwegian andUK sectors, becoming the world’s largestoperator of this new aircraft type.

The CHC reddish orange represents our commitment to safety, and is the safest colour for aircraft in termsof visibility in the greatest range of sky conditions. The deep blue represents the sky and our vision ofconstant improvement, as well as our ability to takecustomers where they could not otherwise go. At thesame time, the sweeping white stripe wraps itselfaround the entire aircraft, representing the total helicopter support provided by our newest division,Heli-One.

T

With the expansion of the fixedwing fleet for our core customers,CHC developed a new standard livery for the Dash-8.


Peter McDonellAircrewman, Canberra Base, Australia

It’s been a busy autumn season for theCHC crew at Snowy Hydro EMS servicehere in Canberra, Australia.

In February, Captain Craig Thomas and myself as aircrewman lowered twoparamedics into the Googong Cascades totreat a seriously injured 14-year old boywho was swimming in a watering holewhen he was jumped on by an adult.The boy had been knocked unconsciousand submerged under the water for severalminutes. He was winched approximately130 ft from a small rock surrounded by water in a stretcher by the crew andtaken to hospital where he was treated for crushed and fractured vertebra and aserious skull fracture.

It was a challenging rescue, made par-ticularly rewarding in late March, whenthe boy managed a visit to the base withhis mum. He has made great progress but has a long road of physiotherapy and

rehabilitation ahead to overcome theaffects of the several cracked vertebras he received as a result of the accident.

In early March Captain DaveDonaldson and Aircrewman David Landwith two paramedics winched 17 schoolchildren and their teachers from bush landnear Tuross Falls. The group became lostand spent a cold night in the bush beforebeing rescued by the crew, requiring 25winch cycles to complete the group rescue.The party were not taken to hospital but to the search coordination post nearby.

Canberra crewsWINCH DOZENS TO SAFETY

CHC GLOBAL

Saving the life of a 14-year old boy was one of severalmissions in a busy season for the crew of CHC's SouthCareSnowy Hydro EMS service in Canberra Australia.

Snowy Hydro SouthCare Snapshot

– EMS for Canberra Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and SE New South Wales.

– Over 2,200 missions completed since inception in 1998

– Bell 412 operates on 24/7 basis

– Dedicated pilot and aircrewmen on base at all times

– Staffed by six full-time CHC crewmen and AME

– Airborne with medical crew within 15 mins between 0800-1800; 30 mins at all other times.

– Base located at Sysonston, just outside Canberra city centre

In mid-March Captain Craig Thomas and myself as Aircrewman with two para-medics winch-rescued an injured rockclimber after he severely cut his leg causingan arterial bleed on a jagged rock atBooroomba Rocks south west of Canberra.He was located on a steep rock face andrecovered using a hypothermic lift approx90ft and taken to hospital.

Thanks to the entire team at SnowyHydro for jobs well done under challeng-ing circumstances.


Focusing on greater employee input with Vision-OneNeil Calvert has good news for anyemployee who has ever thought ‘theremust be a better way to do this.’ ThePresident of Heli-One is launching a newprogram with dedicated resources to helpworkshops, repair facilities and any part of the organization improve workflow andreduce bottlenecks. Called “Vision-One,”the program will catalogue a great deal of what Heli-One does, map processes,outline workflow and give employeesgreater opportunity for input.

“Our goal is to create a process thatallows constant improvement,” Neil said.“Basically we’re implementing a systemthat allows us to react instantly to changes in available technology or customerrequirements – and to stay ahead of thecompetition.” An integral component ofthe Vision-One program is the mappingout of all processes. The Vision-One team will build a database that outlineseverything from workshop processes tofinancial management in a common language. With the first phase, employeeswill gain a greater understanding of thetrue costs of our processes. As a result,any employees with experience or know-how will have the opportunity to point to a specific point in the process and say:“I know how to improve this.”

The helicopter industry has never beenstronger, Neil said, and any improvementswe make in our processes will provideopportunities to bring in new work,strengthen the company and provide newcareer opportunities for more employees.“We can either grow as a company, orshrink,” Neil said. “And maintaining thestatus quo will almost certainly lead toshrinkage, because the competition isalways chasing the market leader.”

Vision-One will be managed andimplemented entirely with internal staff.

Solveig Johannessen(left), Rune Veenstra and Bjorn Age Dybdal-Holthe will kick off theVision-One efficiencyproject starting with theS-61 main rotor headworkshop in Vancouver.

A similar project has been carried out atthe engine workshop in Stavanger, Norwaywith positive results and the first officialVision-One pilot project will take place atthe S-61 Main Motor Head Workshop inVancouver commencing this summer.

Another goal of the Vision-One program is to create a more visuallyappealing work environment so that customers can be introduced to Heli-Oneprocesses and gain greater confidence inthe Company. And don’t think Vision-Oneis only aimed at workshops: the goal is tobe able to bring customers to any part ofthe company, including business offices.

H1 EUROPE


Jay Gates, Base Unit Leader, Humberside

The morning of Thursday, Feb. 16 was not a scheduled flying day for Centrica, aCHC customer in the Southern North Seawhich operates a massive offshore naturalgas storage reservoir. However at 10:56 theOffshore Logistics Co-ordinator aboardthe ‘Ravenspurn North’, which is the BPmain gas platform in the Southern NorthSea, called CHC Humberside Operationsto inform them that they were picking up distress radio traffic from the nearbyCentrica platform, the Three Bravo (3B).As a result, BP was suspending flying operations and leaving its contractedSikorsky S76C, G-SSSD, at Humbersideavailable for possible emergency use.

The BP operating crew that morningwere Capt. Andy Crossland and Capt.Andy Black, who had already prepared the aircraft for what they thought was theirnext flight. At 11:00 a call came into

Operations from the Heli Admin Officeraboard the 3B confirming there had beenan explosion aboard the platform whichhad resulted in a fire, and that a helicopterwas required urgently to begin demanningnon-essential personnel. The platform had 58 persons aboard at the time.

In the manner of a WW2 ‘scramble’order, Capt’s Crossland and Black wereairborne at 11:09, en route to the 3B. Onarrival at the rig they were joined by a ded-icated Search and Rescue SeaKing helicop-ter, which had arrived from the nearbybase of RAF Leconfield. The platform fireappeared to be out and large amounts ofsteam were coming from the platform as a result of the rig deluge system. While SDlanded on the accommodation platformhelideck to start the evacuation process,the SeaKing began winching six men froma lifeboat which had been launched fromthe ‘wellhead platform. The six passengers,plus two others who had minor injuries,were airlifted to a mainland hospital

landing site, located in the city of Hull.Meanwhile, back at Humberside, Base

Manager Jay Gates, Operations OfficersSue Kauss and Shane Bellamy, assisted by Ramp Handler Daniel Beedham andOperations Trainee Mathew Johnson,went about informing all the necessaryauthorities, departments and personnel of the escalating incident.

By now a fleet of police vehicles andAmbulances had descended on the CHCHeliport building. At 12:16 SD returned toHumberside with the first 10 passengers,followed five minutes later by the RAFSeaKing with another 10. SD took a ‘rotorsrunning’ refuel and by 12:24 was headingback offshore to transfer personnel fromthe 3B across to another Centric platform,the Eight Alpha (8A). It returned toHumberside at 13:46 with a further 10 passengers.

At this point Capt. Phil Hodgson and First Officer Pete Moggridge arrived totake over SD as flying crew. CHC DutyEngineer Mark Greswell did a full turn-around on SD in quick time and it wasonce more airborne at 14:20. These twoPilots were about to undertake a mammothand selfless flying task. By now theOperations staff had also changed overand Operations Officers Jane Loveday and Phil Pratt, assisted by Ramp HandlerRichard Foley and Operations TraineeScott Siddorn were coordinating the flying operation.

Centrica decided to fully evacuate the3B and transfer everybody to the 8A, priorto them being sent back to Humberside, asit would be a quicker means of achieving asafe platform shutdown. SD had arrivedback at Humberside at 15:05 with 10 more

Dedicated Humberside crew complete marathon evacuation

CHC GLOBAL

CHC Humberside’s Capts.Andy Black, left, and AndyCrossland were airbornewithin nine minutes of the first distress call


passengers and now went offshore toundertake the evacuation, returning threehours later with 10 relieved passengers.Twenty-four personnel were left on the 8A to monitor the 3B and determine whatcould be done to facilitate a return thatevening, giving the crew a chance to take a well-earned break.

But we weren’t done yet. All opera-tional, power and communications linesroute directly to the 3B and onwards to the8A. The remote switching arrangementson the 3B began failing and the 8A lost allmain power and all phone lines. The 8Aonly had power from an emergency generator and communications was nowdown to short-range VHF radios.

The decision was made to shut downand evacuate the 8A; both Phil and Petewere once more heading offshore by 18:50.Operations staff at Humberside now hadto contact the 8A by way of the platformstandby boat Putford Trader by Inmarsatsatellite, which passed the details to the 8A by marine VHF. The SD arrived back at Humberside with 10 more passengers at 19:29.

The outstanding flying programme ofthe day for the other clients was beingcompleted by Capt. Clive Henry and FirstOfficer Tom Bowling using Sikorsky S76C,G-SSSE. To ensure that no crew flight hourbreaches occurred, Jane Loveday made aswitch and tasked Clive and Tom to do the next rotation to the 8A at 19:46.

Clive and Tom returned to Humberside at 20:27 with the last seven non-essentialpersonnel from the 8A. This left only sevenmore personnel offshore, including bothOIMs, who were now busy in the finalstages of making safe the 8A prior to leav-ing it as an effective NUI, or NormallyUnmanned Installation. An hour later theywere ready, and it fell once more on Philand Pete to complete the last flight of analmost 12-hour odyssey.

At 21:38, after SD took its last ‘rotors running’ refuel of the day, it took off for a final run to the Rough Field for theremaining seven personnel. Flying overeight hours and seven trips, CHC hadtransferred 40 personnel from the 3B tothe 8A and then transferred a further 64 personnel from the 8A back to safety at Humberside.

As well as the non-stop work done back at base by all of the dedicated CHCOperations staff, a special note must bemade of the dedication to the day’s eventsby Pilots Andy Crossland and Andy Black.When first advised of an impending emergency offshore these two stalwartcharacters had done all of their flight planning, fuelled up their helicopter, andwere heading for the casualty within 13minutes of the first ‘warning’ call, and

SNS AND ROUGH FIELD FACTS

> The Southern North Sea is a source solely of Natural Gas.

> NG production began 1966

> Gas reserves in Rough field were depleted eight years ago

> The reservoir is now used to store natural gas reinjected from adjacent fileds

> Reservoir supported by two platforms Three Bravo and Eight Alpha.

> The Rough Field stores over 10% of the UK’s gas requirement at any one time.

> CHC has been flying crew change and logistic flights to the two platforms for over 20 years

> The ‘3B’ helideck is the highest helideck in the SNS at 222 feet AMSL

> 3B is the closest platform to Humberside and is used for training new pilots in offshore operations and for Night Deck Landing Procedures (DLP).

Centrica platform 3B in the Southern North Sea was the site of anexplosion and fire Feb.16that led to a chain of evacuations.

Congratulations to First Officer PeteMoggridge and Capt. Phil Hodgsonon their tremendous contribution tothe Humberside evacuation

within nine minutes of receiving the actual‘Go’ call.

No less impressive was the dedicationshown by Pilots Phil Hodgson and PeteMoggridge who flew in stressful conditions,in the harsh offshore environment, almostcontinuously for nearly eight hours withonly one 25-minute break (all safely withinthe confines of the FTL!). They hadensured that the job was completed,with no one left offshore.

It fell to Jane Loveday and Jay Gates tocomplete the paperwork, switch off all of the lights and lock up all the doors.They finally left the CHC Humberside heliport at 11:05. Jay had been in at worksince 08:30 that morning and, even moreimpressively, Jane was back on duty againat 05:00 the next morning. Now that’s dedication.


CHC HELPING COMMUNITIES CHC HELPING COMMUNITIES CHC HELPING COMMUNITIES CHC HELPING COMMUNITIES CHC HELPING COMMU

Helen BeynonCommunications Assistant

Due to money and authority issues, theschool has not been able to find a suitableplot of land for building, however Veronicais optimistic that with a little help, a newschool is within reach.

The school is based in one of the poor-est parts of Lagos, and was started 6 yearsago by Dick Francis, a business manager incivil engineering. Veronica, the wife ofCHC employee Mark Snoxell, has beenvolunteering at the school for over threeyears. She started out as a stand-in teacher,and soon became involved in the localcommunity, improving the quality ofteaching and learning.

Throughout 2003, the school had beenusing the pews at St. Joseph’s Church as a classroom. When the school needed anew building in 2004, Schreiner AviationGroup decided to help out in the purchaseof land and construction fees. However,the project has been marred several times.Veronica hopes to gain new funding toaccomplish the dream of a building largeenough for all the children at the school.

On the first attempt to get a plot ofland, the school went to the local prison.They were told that charities and NGO’sregularly got land plots on the prisongrounds by paying a “token rent” of $1000.With a fair amount of fundraising thetoken rent was raised, and the school wasgiven a certificate for a narrow plot of

land between two churches. However,upon arrival, the church on one sideclaimed that the land was theirs; they toohad been given a certificate of authentica-tion. The school was given another plot ofland, but this location was subject to heavyrains and flooding at certain times of theyear, so they refused the offer without get-ting any money back.

The second attempt to acquire a landplot was again on prison land, but thistime with the Lagos State instead ofFederal. An ideal plot was found, locatednext to a church and a clinic, but they weresoon told that no construction wasallowed on that plot of land.

A third attempt for land was made by talking with private vendors. A plot with a

A N U P D A T E

When we last heard from Veronica Snoxell at the Kirikiri school in Lagos, Nigeria,the school was preparing for the construction of its brand new facilities. So wheredoes the initiative stand now? The volunteers, teachers and parents are all workinghard to ensure that the school children receive the best possible education available.

Kirikiri


UNITIES CHC HELPING COMMUNITIES CHC HELPING COMMUNITIES CHC HELPING COMMUNITIES CHC HELPING COMMUNITIES CHC HELPING COMMUNITIES CHC H

large play area was found, but this time the school was wary of parting with anymoney. After further investigation, itturned out that the “current owners”trying to sell the land were not the realowners, that the bank was trying to repossess the land, and that several otherpeople had already laid claim to it.

At the end of Summer 2005 the school was informed that they would no longerbe able to use the St. Joseph Church pewsas their classroom; they were required tomove out and pay a year’s rent up front for a building to teach in. The crampedbuilding is just large enough to hold 100pupils, even though the school consists of 114 (57 boys and 57 girls).

School volunteers continue to be opti-mistic about finding a new location.“It is essential that we move off this rentedproperty”, said Veronica. Once the schoolhas its own land with a big hall, it will be

able to resume the community functions ithad before 2003 when it occupied an oldwarehouse. The school hall served as alocal information center and library,a village hall for PTA meetings, an adulteducation centre and a youth recreationcentre. Real facilities would enable thecommunity to resume the activities andenjoyment it has been denied.

The school continues to provide Lagoschildren with an educational opportunitythey might not otherwise receive. Since the inception of the project, there havebeen three groups of graduates. In 2003,15 pupils took the Nigerian commonentrance exam and went on to secondaryschool. In 2004, 14 pupils did the same.In 2005, 25 children finished primary education at the school; of these, 22 wenton to secondary school.

“The project brings happiness to the children and families in the area. It is not

difficult to quantify this as bright faceswith gleaming white teeth always greet me when I go to the project,” saysVeronica. The project also improves thelocal community by providing employmentto the school staff and local craftsmen whomake tables and chairs, and welders whoput in a gate at the entrance.

With additional funding, the Kirikiri project would be able to purchase a plot ofland where they could build real facilitiesto serve the entire community. With mea-ger resources, the community cannot domuch on their own. Tuition fees are also a problem for many of the families; withhelp, the fees could be paid for and families could put aside some of theirincome for health care and basic survival.The CHC Craig Dobbin Foundationhopes to be able to contribute to this project and help improve the lives of thechildren and community of Lagos.

Despite a lack of proper facilities and funding, the KiriKiri school in Lagos provides a positive learning environment and offers children an education they could not otherwise get.


Helen BeynonCommunications Assistant

When is the last time a haircut inspiredyou to help humanity and dine with therecipient of a Nobel Peace Prize? OneCHC employee’s trip to the hairdressersparked a donation project that has helpedhundreds of children in Dili, Timor Leste(formerly East Timor).

Peter Lymn, Base Manager and AvionicsEngineer in Dili, has been donating cloth-ing and toys to the children of Timor Lestesince 1999. The project began when he wasdiscussing the local situation with his hairdresser (as one tends to do) in MountBarker, a town 30 km from Adelaide wherethe main CHC base in Australia is located.She agreed that something should be doneto help the children.

Peter has four children of his own, whohe says have most things in life. Seeingbarefoot children scavenging through rub-bish piles on the streets, wearing the onlyclothes they own, made him want to helpin any way possible. “I thought, if I couldcontribute even a small amount to someneedy children, it would be a start in helping them.”

So Peter set to work, searching throughhis children’s closets for items they nolonger used. His search was fruitful, and hefilled five packing boxes with toys andclothing. After the discussion with hishairdresser, she displayed a sign in hershop window asking for donations. Peopleresponded to the need, and a project wasborn.

Timor Leste has been a country miredby conflict for several years, and children continue to suffer. More than a quarter of the population is thought to have diedduring 25 years of conflict that ended witha successful vote for independence fromIndonesia in 1999. Further violence imme-diately following the vote led to a rampagein which hundreds were murdered andvillages reduced to ruins. A six-year UNpeacekeeping mission – supported byCHC – helped restore peace, but infra-structure and resources remain very poor.

Thousands of children have been lefthomeless and in orphanages; these are the children who benefit from projectssuch as Peter’s.

Peter continues to collect the variousdonations that come in to the hairdressers.He packs everything into boxes and takesthem to CHC stores for shipment in Dili.Generally he will try and stockpile a larger amount of goodies for aroundChristmastime. Dili is a Christian commu-nity, but orphanages are often poor andcannot afford to give out Christmas pres-ents to the children they care for. “It is awonderful moment, seeing the smiles ontheir faces when they receive a gift. But it is also very sad to hear them say that thiswas their first and only Christmas gift,”Peter said.

Peter’s work has earned him a dinner invitation from Nobel Peace Prize winnerand Timor Leste Foreign Minister JoseRamos-Horta. As a friend of Mr. Ramos-Horta’s legal secretary, Peter heard that theforeign minister would be travelling alongthe outer areas of Timor Leste, one of the

Donations for DiliCHC HELPING COMMUNITIES CHC HELPING COMMUNITIES CHC HELPING COMMUNITIES CHC HELPING COMMUNITIES CHC HELPING COMMU

Lito DeAlmeida gets a close-up look at the cockpit of a Super Pumawith CHC EngineeringAssistant Elvis Fore.

Peter Lymn, BaseManager in Dili, helpsimprove the lives ofmany children in TimorLeste, including Pedro, 5 (held by Peter), hisbrother Lito, 6, and sisterMaria, 11.

poorest areas of the country, atChristmastime. Mr. Ramos-Horta wouldbe donating buffalo for Christmas dinner.Peter suggested the foreign minister takewith him six boxes full of donations, togive to the children in these areas whowould otherwise have nothing. The foreignminister was delighted, and invited Peterto accompany him on his next visit (whichPeter unfortunately had to decline, as hecannot leave the Dili area). However, Peterstill had the opportunity to have dinnerwith the Mr. Ramos-Horta upon hisreturn.

The donation program in Dili contin-ues to grow, as an article in the local paper has helped to raise awareness. In addition,one of Peter’s children’s basketball teamswill be donating basketballs to the project.This project is especially important now,as the UN mission in Timor Leste hasdecreased from 12,500 to 300 people,meaning fewer jobs and less money in the local economy.

After raising his own four girls inSouthern Ontario and conducting numer-ous flight training activities, CHC GlobalOperations Pilot Murray Bale decided touse his teaching skills to help the commu-nities in which he works. Murray is basemanager in Kanbauk, Myanmar, and hasbeen touring with Global Operations since1981. His first tour was through Songhkla,Thailand. It was here that Murray wasinspired to lend his English skills to thelocal orphans. Now, as manager inKanbauk, he continues to set an examplefor other employees, teaching English to children in a local school.

Teaching in ThailandMurray first began teaching children inThailand five years ago, outside the CHCbase in Songkhla. When Murray found out about the Songhkla Babies House,he went directly to the manager to tell herhe wanted to help out by teaching the children English. At first she seemed hesitant to let him teach at the school,as she thought he was looking for a placeto live at the orphanage as well. “As soon as I explained that I already had a homeand a job in Songhkla, she was happy toaccept,” says Murray.

The Songhkla Babies House is home toabout 200 children, ranging in age fromdiapers to 16. At first, Murray taughtgroups of 20 children after school. Theprogram was mandatory, but Murray didn’t believe that the children should beforced to come. He spoke with the manag-er and they agreed that the English class

would be optional. “Making the classoptional drove me to make it fun for thekids, so that they would want to come,”says Murray. “The kids who want to learnare the ones who will attend, and they arethe most enjoyable to teach.”

Murray’s classes quickly evolved into a fun place for the children to converse inEnglish, play games and sing. “Head andshoulders, knees and toes is a big hit withthem,” says Murray. He also brings inclothes to distribute as rewards for thechildren.Working in the orphanage was especiallyrewarding for Murray because of the relationships with the children. Those inthe orphanage have no families to gohome to at the end of the school day, hesays; they are starved for attention andlove, and become very attached to theirteachers. The attachment goes both ways;the children can help fill a void for a pilotseparated from his family. “I would driveup on my motorcycle in the afternoon,and the kids would swarm around, waitingfor a hug. They loved seeing adults.”

Moving to MyanmarWhen Murray was transferred to the basein Kanbauk, he immediately went to thelocal school to find out if he could teachthere. The headmaster was in favor ofthe idea; the children knew many Englishnouns, but did not have the basic conver-sation skills to put them together. Again,Murray set up an optional after-schoolclassroom where children could converseand play in English.


Volunteer teaching rewards both students and instructor

UNITIES CHC HELPING COMMUNITIES CHC HELPING COMMUNITIES CHC HELPING COMMUNITIES CHC HELPING COMMUNITIES CHC HELPING COMMUNITIES CHC

CHC BASE MANAGER CREATES CLASSROOMS IN THAILAND, MYANMAR

Volunteer teacher andKanbauk Base ManagerMurray Bale asks school officials to makehis English classes strictly optional in orderto create a fun learningenvironment.

Giving the children an opportunity tolearn and play is rewarding for Murray;he knows the classroom time is providingthem with an atmosphere they might not otherwise get. Although they face continual hardships, all the children he hasworked with have been incredibly happywith their lives. None of these children go hungry; it is the political instability and lack of amenities in their countriesthat constitute the hardships they face.Something we take for granted, such aselectricity, is unreliable and often notavailable.

In Myanmar, the children have been isolated for a long time due to politics and war. The majority of children are educated at a primary level, however thereis no infrastructure to support children inlater years of education, or in pursuing a career. By teaching the children English,Murray can only hope that a seed will beplanted in the minds of a few, and thatthey will pursue dreams of education andjobs in other countries.

Murray’s work in teaching exemplifiesCHC’s ideals of social responsibility.“I believe that we have a responsibility tothe countries that we live and work in.These countries are not just vehicles for making a profit. We are part of the“development” of these countries and Iendeavor to leave these places a little bitricher than when I arrived,” says Murray.


Ciaran SmithWinchman, CHC Ireland, Sligo

The Niall Mellon Township Challenge was launched in 2002 with the aim ofimproving the living conditions of the residents in one of South Africa’s manytownships, Imizamo Yethu. The brainchildof Dublin developer Niall Mellon, theproject has seen more than 350 brickhomes built by Irish volunteers since itsinception. Imizamo Yethu is a communityof approximately 15,000 people living intin hut dwellings,more commonlydescribed as “shacks”with a general size ofapproximately 4m x 3m. Few of the shackshave running water and most residents areforced to share outside sanitation facilities.

With millions of people living in shacks,this project had the potential to become asymbol of hope for many South Africans.

This was the third year that Irish volun-teers made the trip and the aim was tobuild 100 houses in two weeks. Each vol-unteer had to fundraise 4000 to make thetrip. Trying to raise this amount of moneywas never going to be easy; however, Iknew that with the support of my familyand friends I could achieve my target.

This years Township Challenge was staggered over two weeks with the aim of building 100 homes. I enrolled for thefirst week along with two hundred othervolunteers. We arrived in Cape Town onthe 28th of October and were amazed at

the poor conditions that these people lived in. Here was this beautiful place withmansions overlooking the Atlantic Oceanand heated outdoor swimming pools; turna corner and you have iron shacks runningup the side of a mountain.When we enteredthe township we were gob smacked at thewarm reception given to us by the locals.We couldn’t help but be touched by thespirit and friendliness of the residents,and this inspired us to give 110%.We weredivided up into teams of six, given a mapand tools and we got down to work.We hitthe ground running and each team wasbuilding a house a day up to roof level.It was amazing to see how quickly the newhouses seemed to mushroom overnight.

The notorious Cape storms hit on thethird night and flattened about 30 of thefreshly built homes.However, rather thanbecome despondent, we quickly remem-bered why we were there, cleared off thesites and got back down to the business of building again. By the end of our weekin Cape Town, we were, amazingly, backon track.

It wasn’t all work for the builders.Wewere also treated to a visit to the local pri-mary school where I met one of the school children, 12 year old Yonela Matshona.It was here that I got an opportunity tosponsor Yonelas’ education. It cost theequivalent of 50 to pay for one year’s edu-cation, a tracksuit and a school uniform.

By the end of the second week, 106homes were built. The fact that we hadsurpassed the target became all the morerewarding when we realised that around800 of the residents would have a properhome, running water, electricity and a toilet for the first time in their lives.Their joy was clear to see as the keys werehanded over to them on the last day ofthe challenge. When I first heard about thechallenge in 2004, I never dreamt that Iwould have been able to raise the moneyto make the trip. But thanks to the verygenerous sponsorship of CHC Ireland andmy work colleagues I have been fortunateenough to be a part of something veryspecial.

I would like to thank everybody whosponsored me to take part in this chal-lenge. I will never forget their kindnessand generosity.

“The Irish stand shoulder to shoulderwith the South Africans in our desire to seethe end of shacks in this country. Your soremuscles, burnt faces and weary backs willheal. But the pride you take home with youwill never leave you.” – Niall Mellon.

Township ChallengeIRISH VOLUNTEERS BUILD HOUSES FOR THE LESS FORTUNATE

CHC HELPING COMMUNITIES CHC HELPING COMMUNITIES CHC HELPING COMMUNITIES CHC HELPING COMMUNITIES CHC HELPING COMMU

Ciaran Smith and fellow Irish philanthropistsraised money at home, traveled to SouthAfrica and threw themselves at the backbreak-ing task of building solid homes in place of tinshacks. L to R: Billy Murphy, a Cape Town resi-dent, John Corcoran, Ciaran and Seán Hart.

Ciaran with 12 yr. oldYonela Matshona, whowill be able to attendschool for free thanks toCiaran’s sponsorship.


U

recognition, and doctors are thrilled withinitial hearing results. There are stilladjustments to be made, and a lot of workahead for Danny, but he is thrilled byevery new sound he relearns. He is “almostoverwhelmed” by hearing his phone ringagain after three months of silence.

Donations can be made by contactingMaureen Hayward, the payroll administra-tor in the Adelaide Head Office at [email protected].

CHC GLOBAL

As a rescue aircrewman for CHC inAustralia, Danny Clarke has witnessed alot of perseverance in the face of injuryand suffering. Among his many missionswas his rescue of a sailor who had not onlybeen burned while welding, but had fallenoverboard from a tanker off the WesternAustralia coast.

Now Danny, 25, is facing a double set-back of his own, but true to his character,he has not let injury weaken his resolve.

Danny suffered a childhood injury that left him completely deaf in his right ear.Despite the hearing loss, Danny relentlesslypursued his dream of becoming a helicop-ter winchman, which he realized 8 April2003, when he became a winchman/rescueswimmer for CHC Australia, after workingas storeman since 2001.

Then in October of 2005, Danny waswalking home after a night out with friendswhen a stranger approached him andstarted acting aggressively. Unprovoked,the stranger attacked Danny viciously.Despite Danny’s attempts to pacify him,the stranger struck him heavily across the face. Danny fell to the ground andfractured the base of his skull on the hardwalkway. The head injuries led to the lossof hearing in his left ear, leaving Dannycompletely deaf.

Despite the terrible injury, Danny did not give up on his dream career.

On February 9, he underwent one ofthe first simultaneous bilateral cochlearimplant procedures in Australia. It’s anexpensive procedure, but one of thecochlear implants was sponsored by theLions Ear and Hearing Institute in Perth,where the surgery was performed, andCHC employees are helping Danny raisethe remaining funds. CHC employees atthe Pearce Base raised $4,800 for Dannyand other assistance is still coming in.

A musician as well as a winchman,Danny’s total deafness would have pre-vented him from carrying on with the lifehe loved. The complicated three-and-a-half-hour bilateral cochlear surgery may

allow him to regain about 80% of hishearing in both ears. The ability to listento his loved ones and the other voices ofthe world are what he looked forward tomost before his surgery, in addition to hearing musicagain. Danny hopes to be able to return to work as an Aircrewman, but it is notknown whether health and safety regulations will permit it.

Danny’s ears were turned on in lateFebruary, after the successful completionof the surgery. He is now capable of voice

CHC Aircrewman overcoming serious injury

Rescue aircrewman Danny Clarke has overcome his hearing loss thanks to advanced surgery and help from friends at CHC’s Pearce Base. L to R: SimonWeyling, Doug Martin, Danny Clarke, Phil Peel, Brodie Prideaux.


Jay Gates

Last year, the Air Traffic Control office atHumberside International Airport passeda courtesy note to Jay Gates, CHC BaseManager at Humberside, informing himthat a Canadian registered aircraft wouldbe performing some survey work at lowlevel, out over the North Sea, which mighthave an impact on CHC’s offshore heli-copter flying operations. Some three weekslater two young pilots, Tania Lor andJustin Ladouceur of Sander Geophysics,arrived at Humberside Airport in theirsurvey-equipped Cessna 404 Titan. Theaircraft was specially fitted with a stinger,carrying an aerial magnetometer, andwould be carrying out airborne seismicsurvey mapping on behalf ofConocoPhillips, who were also a majorclient of CHC out of Humberside. Theirsurvey area was 100 miles offshore wherethere was daily helicopter activity to 12 gasplatforms, three of them right in the mid-dle of the survey block, and the Canuckswanted to find out as much information aspossible to assist them with their flightprogramme.

After a quick tour and basic overview,the surveyors were introduced to Roger

Lyons, a senior captain and S76C LineTrainer who had just finished his flyingprogramme for the day. Roger is wellknown for ‘detail’ in all that he does andhappily took the two Canadians under hiswing to give them his usual ‘in-depth’ briefwhich continued for over an hour.

CHC S76C helicopters operating out ofHumberside provide crew change flightsto platforms, which use various radio fre-quencies for direct contact with helicop-ters and Lower Airspace Radar Service(LARS) in this region. It that is not enoughthere’s the added ‘non standard’ element ofthe British Government Fisheries PatrolAircraft, call sign ‘Watchdog’, which regu-larly flies low level patrols throughout thesurvey area, but with no obvious pattern.

The ability of the Canadians to fly safelyin this area was paramount, not only tothe benefit of the CHC helicopters in thearea, but also for the reverse reason. Taniaand Justin would be flying a fixed box pat-tern (i.e. no deviations), on strict North-South lines, at a constant 150 knots and at650 feet AMSL. The strict requirements ofthe survey meant that they would only beflying ‘Day VFR’ and to make life morecomplicated, they would be operating atthis low level without lights, as the naviga-

tion strobe lights could not be used when-ever the magnetometer was operating.

As Justin had never conducted a surveyover such a hostile overwater environmentbefore (the North Sea is only 8C at thistime of year), Roger gave them the fulldetails of HOTA (Humberside OffshoreTraining Association), the local SurvivalSchool where ditching, egress and liferaftprocedures can be practised. CHC’s Heli-One division arranged the rental of crewsurvival suits for the duration of their sur-vey. They finally walked out of their ‘brief ’from Roger with more information thanthey could ever have hoped for.

The staff at CHC were able to furnishthe Canadians with information on every-thing from where to obtain avgas, to howto replace a few parts on the Cessna andwhere to find the best hotels in the region.Over the next couple of weeks, the twocrews exchanged technical informationabout their aircraft, and before long Justinwas converted to helicopters, indicating hewould like to switch from fixed wing flyingto rotory wing, and get his CanadianCPL(H).

We even found some aviation connec-tions between our crew and theirs. It turnedout CHC pilot Peter Moggridge had once flown a ‘Starduster 2’ in Brampton,Ontario, and Tania not only knew the air-craft, she knew its owner well. Later, ChiefPilot Capt. Alessio Candido discoveredthat he had relations living in the sameToronto suburb that Tania lives in.

Thanks to fine spring weather and a little help from CHC, the Canadians completed their 20-mile square survey box – which comprised 195 flight linesand 3,900 nautical miles of aerial survey –ahead of schedule. On their final day inHumberside, both Tania and Justin walkedinto the CHC Terminal to express theirperson thanks to everybody at CHC inHumberside for the assistance they hadreceived. A great learning experience forboth sides, there was just one last thing the Humberside team had to teach theCanadians: where to find the best pubs in the region.

CHC GLOBAL

Humberside helps

Canadians a long way from home

Base manager Jay Gates, right, shared his expertiseand helped visiting Canadians Tania Lor and JustinLadouceur fly their survey aircraft more safely in busyNorth Sea air space.


H1 EUROPE

Karl GjelvikBusiness Manager DynamicsHeli-One (Norway) AS

Stavanger facility is the only non-OEMrepair centre for MK II Dynamic compo-nents. Heli-One’s Dynamic Componentsworkshop at Stavanger, Norway, has surpassed a major milestone, successfullyoverhauling more than 300 AS332Gearboxes (main, intermediate & tail),and more than 300 AS332 main rotorheads. The Dynamic Components workshop is the only approved R&O center other than Eurocopter (EC)licenced to overhaul dynamic componentson the Super Puma AS332 MK II.

Now called Heli-One DynamicComponents, the workshop was estab-lished in 1972 to support high-utilizationhelicopters operating in the rapidly grow-ing North Sea oil industry. Expansion gavethe facility the capability to meet the needsof the entire Norwegian fleet, includingBell 47, 205, 206, 212, 214, 214ST, SikorskyS61N and Boeing Chinook BV234 over the years.

The introduction of AS332 Super Pumalead to a relationship with Eurocopter in which Heli-One became an approvedTechnical Repair Center for AS332 MK Idynamic components in Scandinavia(1994). This required investment in spare-parts and tools, technical training at theEC plant in Marignane, France, and later,the acquisition of helicopter transmissiontest facilities: a full load test cell certifiedby EC and designed for testing AS 330,AS332 MK I and MK II.

Our professional workforce in theworkshop, as well as in logistics and plan-ning, has secured the lowest Turn AroundTime (TAT) achievable and led to anincreased demand for service. Today Heli-One provides maintenance on AS332dynamic components to customers allover the world.

Based on our experience on AS332 MKI, the introduction of MK II dynamic

Force in addition to CHC’s own fleet, andad-hoc customers all over the world.

Our strong relationship withEurocopter is one of the keys to success,giving us timely access to technical expert-ise and highest quality OEM spare parts.Eurocopter’s professionalism and technicaland logistic support, in conjunction withHeli-One’s organisation, has proven to bethe precise formula for success.

component service was a logical step, andled to the expansion of our productionarea. We completed our first MK II gearbox overhaul in November 2003 and the production area expansion wascompleted a year later. Training of Heli-One personnel has been performed on sitein Stavanger, carried out by EC experts onactual components. Tools and spare partsnecessary for this new activity were alreadyavailable in our workshop, and the test rigwas certified for MK II components,allowing a smooth transition from theprevious PBH arrangement.

The Heli-One Dynamic Componentworkshop is one of the most experiencedcomponent workshops in the world. Anumber of our technicians have been inthe business for more than 20 years, andsome more than 30 years. The teamincludes 40 professionals – organizedunder Dynamics, Test Benches, Hydraulicsand Non Destructive Testing – who servicemore than 60,000 AS332 operating hourson PBH support. Customers includesCougar Helicopters and the Swedish Air

Heli-One surpasses 300AS332 gearboxes and main rotor heads

Heli-One Norway Dynamic Component workshopteam members Roy Øvrebø, left, Sigmund Sandve,Kurt Dyrli, Ingvar Espedal, Ernst Knutsson have helped reduce turn-around time and increase third-party demand.

L to R: Haavard J.Dahle, Sigurd Sviland, Yves Siegel (Instr. Eurocopter, France), Tor Inge Scheie, Arild Lode


Nigel Woolmer, HSEQ Manager, Australia

I spent a considerableamount of time drivingaround Australia with GregWyght recently, from Sydney

to Wollongong and across the GreatDividing range to Canberra. During oneof our many conversations I told himabout some of the things I had done in my50 years in aviation. I was quite surprisedsome weeks later when Greg asked me toproduce an article for the CHC Adventurefeature. The result is the story of my visits to the remote Cocos Islands.

During the late 1950s and 60s, Qantas airline operated an Australia-to-SouthAfrica route with a refuelling stop in The Cocos (Keeling) Islands, a remote andbeautiful outpost 1,709 miles (2,750 km)north-west of Perth. Its closest neighbouris Christmas Island, some 560 miles to thenortheast. When Qantas took delivery of the new version “B” Boeing 707s in theearly 1960s, Cocos was no longer required,but being an Australian Protectorate,it was considered strategically importantand as a result, a contract was let to support the Islands with a bi-weekly service provided by Trans AustraliaAirlines (TAA) from Perth.

The service began using Douglas DC4s (C 54/R5D), which were originally built in 1942 but did not see commercial serviceuntil 1946. This was a big aircraft and itsperformance was astounding for its time,offering presentable cruising speed, goodrange and a duration of 14 hours. I recall it being said the aircraft consumes a “gallon a mile”. The fuel was the volatile110LL (purple Avgas).

I was a most unlikely candidate to be chosen as a “flying spanner” on these charters but purely by chance, when Iqualified for my first LAME licence (1961),I was the very first person to be issuedwith a gas turbine licence without holdinga piston engine licence. The authority(Australian DCA in those days) had alteredthe basic examinations to make this possible. I remember that at the time several of the old-timers were not pleasedat this “watering down of standards!”

I was Adelaide-based with TAA and wewere the base chosen to support this charter, as the engineering staff there were ex-military and very experienced onpiston engines. I had moved to Adelaide in 1964 and found that I was 14 yearsyounger than the youngest of the rest ofthe engineers… so immediately I became“the boy.”

My boss at the time added me to theteam of three engineers supporting theCocos charter; much to the absolute dis-may of the rest of the engineers. They wereconvinced that without the pre-requisite“50 years on thumpers,” I was destined for a very rough ride trying to keep a DC4 serviceable. Of course all of this did nothing for my confidence, but I saidnothing and just kept my fingers crossed.

The DC4 would come throughAdelaide, where the engineer would jointhe aircraft en route to Perth. It was com-forting knowing there was engineeringsupport in Perth, so that any potentialproblems could be dealt with prior to thecharter.

After an overnight in Perth, duringwhich the aircraft was re-configured tomixed cargo and passenger and a basic gal-ley installed, the DC4 would leave forCocos at first light. The crew of two wasaugmented by two cabin attendants and anavigator. The plan was always to cruise ataround 8,000 feet mainly for the comfortof the dozen or so passengers we carried.

Some trips were very eventful. I remem-ber being short of breath and going to the

cockpit to ask why, only to find that wewere “lost,” the poor navigator was besidehimself and the aircraft was up at 11,000feet in an attempt to pick up the NDB signal from the Island. I believe this experience resulted in changes to the DC4navigation SOPs!

We quickly learned to take with us thethings that the islanders missed most:newspapers, oranges, apples, pastries.That assured us of plenty of assistance and hospitality. In turn we could buy Seiko watches and other duty free goodsthat came in on the bi-monthly boat fromSingapore. Once we become involved witha cyclone and diverted to Darwin on theway back. It was a very rough trip andmany of the passengers and the cabinattendants were airsick but the DC4 was apretty solid aircraft and was unaffected.

On arrival in Cocos, the aircraft had to be serviced and attended to, any defectsrectified, a basic fuel load added and adetailed post-flight inspection carried out.I was alone in my particular approach tothis. I would always stay and finish all ofthe work possible before I left the aircraft.

I discovered that the other engineers onthe charter would leave the aircraft andonly return early in the morning to preparefor departure.

The fuel was not toppedall the way up until themorning otherwise therelatively cold fuel would gradually expandovernight, run out thevents and leave the aircraft standing in apuddle of Avgas!

I was lucky as it had happened to one ofmy colleagues first and I was able to avoidthe mistake.

CHC ADVENTURE

Crossings to CocosAdventures on an island charter


The engineers decided to make some covers for the magnetos to keep out thehumidity and ensure an easy start and nomag drop prior to departure. The magnetoswere at the top in the front of the engineand were susceptible to moisture. I wasadvised by one of the more experiencedengineers in Adelaide not to use these butto equip myself with a small Dry Nitrogenbottle and in the morning, connect this to each of the magnetos in turn (the mag-netos had convenient bayonet connectionsfor just this purpose) and blow them out.It never failed!

It was ironic that the other two engi-neers on the charter would never adoptany of my ideas (I was ‘too young’) untilwell into the second year of the operation.

In the three years of operating with theDC4 I was very fortunate; I never had asingle defect, never had a delay, never amissed start. The others had magnetochanges, instrument problems, generatorproblems, two engine changes, a governorchange and various other defects.

Cocos was a beautiful place to visit andwas completely unspoiled at that time.It was a great experience, not least becauseof the chance to get close to a past aviationera which was the DC4. I learned a lotabout thorough preparation, risk assess-ment and attention to detail. This reducedrisk and paid off for me and for those I directly supported on the charters. I alsocould see that the information we gainedshould have been more readily sharedamong the engineers – a good safety management principle that has stayedwith me to this day.

Barry Clouter, CHC Global OperationsRegional Director for the Americas, hasbeen elected Chair of the Board of OTANS,the Offshore-Onshore TechnologiesAssociation of Nova Scotia.

Barry has worked in the aviation indus-try for 30 years and has been with CHCsince 2001. Barry was elected as Chair ofthis Eastern Canadian trade association,which represents companies that providegoods and services in support of offshoreoil and gas activities in Atlantic Canada,at the annual meeting of the association in Halifax in February. He was first electedto the OTANS board in 2004 and was Vice Chair of the association in 2005.

Speaking to over 300 business leaders at the OTANS dinner, Barry listed hisobjectives for the association in the comingyear, which includes greater cooperationbetween the business communities of NovaScotia and Newfoundland and workingwith companies such as ExxonMobil and Encana to jump-start more activity.“OTANS, on its own, cannot find the natural gas,” Barry said. “But we have,and we will during my year as Chair, do allwe can to create the business conditionsneeded to give exploration a real shot.”

The night had a real CHC theme. Theannual meeting guest speaker was CHCPresident and CEO Sylvain Allard, whogave a presentation on CHC’s SafetyManagement System and safety philosophy.The CHC SMS allows for more effectivetracking of accidents and prevention of

Barry Clouter, CHC GlobalRegional Director for theAmericas, makes his firstaddress as Chairman of the Offshore TechnologyAssociation of Nova Scotia.

CHC Presidentand CEOSylvain Allardconveys theimportance ofthe SafetyManagementSystem.

CHC’s Barry Clouter ELECTED OFFSHORE TECHNOLOGY CHAIRMAN

The CHC team in Halifax.

similar occurrences. Sylvain conveyed theimportant message that every employee,including the CEO, needs to be aware of all safety issues within the company,and must be aware of, and committed to,best practices when it comes to incidentprevention.


CHC GLOBAL

Robert S. Eaton

Norway’s national rugby team and CHCSola’s Lewis Eaton made a big impressionon the international rugby scene in 2005.The team won all 3 of their internationalmatches, and Lewis played at front rowforward as he does for his local clubStavanger Rugbyklubb.

While this tough sport is big business atthe highest level, thousands of players inup to 100 club still play for love of thegame as amateurs.

The origins of the game are in somedispute, but Rugby School in Englandclaims to be its birthplace. A plaque therereads:

“This stone commemorates the exploitof William Webb Ellis who with fine disre-gard for the rules of football as played inhis time first took the ball in his arms andran with it thus originating the distinctivefeature of the rugby game. A.D. 1823.”

Norway’s victims in 2005 were Finland(home), Israel (away) and Azerbaijan

(home). Players must pay for their owntravel and living costs, and need under-standing employers to allow free time for atraining day or two before a big match,when the selected players come togetherfrom all parts of the country.

Lewis, a mechanic at CHC Sola’s repairshop since completing his apprenticeship

CHC mechanic pushes Norwegian rugby team to victory

there, was introduced to the sport while atschool in Singapore.

“It was in the blood, I guess” says Lewis,who was born in Wales, a fanatical rugbynation.

“They say the Norwegians are bornwith skis on their feet. Well, the Welsh areborn with a rugby ball in their hands.”

Lewis came to Norway at the age offour. His introduction to the “ruffians’game played by gentlemen” came when hewas 16 and his father’s job took the familyto Singapore for a year.

Starting his apprenticeship in Stavangerback in Norway, the Rugbyklubb provideda sporting and social framework for Lewis.Stavanger Rugby Klubb was formed in1978. Nationalities from around the worldare represented, befitting Stavanger’s statusas Norway’s oil and gas capital, butNorwegians now form an increasing per-centage. Men , women, boys and girls of allplaying standards and experience aremembers, training and playing competi-tively in the Norwegian Rugby Union’sleagues and tournaments. The nationalunion has nearly 1,000 members, approxi-mately one half men, a quarter womenand a quarter juniors.

There are now clubs in Oslo, Bergen,Trondheim and other towns along coast ofNorway. The expense of travel and theweather limit the number of competitivematches that can be played.;this in turnhampers the development of the nationalteam.

To build on the success of 2005 and toclimb up the world rankings, there is nosubstitute for regular collective trainingand competition.

Sponsorship for training camps wouldprovide a new impetus and make up forthe restrictions imposed by geography andclimate on the progress of those who playfor the love of this world game.

On the ball: CHC’s Lewis Eaton playsfront row forward for the successful Norway’sNational Rugby Team.


tively dry. After parking the machine, twocobras were spotted, one five feet long;this prompted the crew to wade throughthe water again to try and reach the Navalbase, which was closest to them.

After speaking with the air personel incharge of the Naval evacuation, the CHCcrew was informed that they could be put in a Gemini raft after the evacuationrequirements had been completed.However they were also informed that noevacuation would take place after sunset.Luckily, though it was dark after everyoneelse had been evacuated, the Gemini driverassured everyone he was confident withthe route and could take them back tosafety.

The raft dropped them ahead of the terminal on a mud bar, a kilometer fromdry area. Again they began wadingthrough the water in the darkness to thehighway, which they reached after an agonizing hour. As their car was underwater, they took another car back to the hotel.

We would like to extend a sincere“Thank-you” to all crew membersinvolved in the India operation, wentabove and beyond their call of duty.Thank you to each and everyone of you,Roy Joyce, Savio Rodrigues, Capt B. Tony,Capt. John, Krishna, and Rama.

T.J. EllisOperations

On October 15th, 2005 a call came in tothe India Dolphin base notifying the crewthat a dam had been opened, and waterwas starting to flood into the airport. The14th of October had been a bad weatherday, and the pilots had been unable tocomplete their missions.

When Capt. Boehm Tony arrived at theairport with his crew, they found the aircraft was safe. However, a short whilelater the crew was notified of another

floodgate being opened, and water wasstarting to rise. The machine was now sitting in about three inches of water,and the decision was made to move themachine to the Navy side, which was onhigher ground. While the machine wasbeing moved, the parts were also being put onto higher shelves, as the water wasslowly creeping higher. Once landed, thehelicopter was lashed down with picketingblocks borrowed from the Navy.

The crew was then driven back to thehangar, where the water was as high as thebonnet of the car, and at one point the carwent off the road , which was not visiblethrough the dirty water.

Soon after their arrival at the hangar,the water had reached the top of all the

baggage carts. In the terminal the groundfloor was completely flooded with waistdeep water. Everyone moved to the firstfloor with great difficulty; during all this,some of the crew fell into the water a fewtimes, resulting in damage to their mobilephones, and the CHC digital camera,through which the events were beingrecorded.

Again, information was relayed thatmore floodgates were going to be opened.After seeing the water rise steadily, thecrew went to check on the aircraft now onthe Navy side. With water now so high,

their only option was to walk – or wade –the one kilometer distance to the machine.Capt. John, Tony, Savio and Roy left thehelper and driver at the terminal, withinstructions to evacuate, and began theirtrechearous journey to the aircraft.Thewater was chest deep with rodents andsnakes all fighting for higher ground,but they continued on with nothing but astick for their defense. When they arrivedat the machine, the water was several inches deep already.

Once at the aircraft, officials were con-tacted with the only surviving phone, andthe crew’s decision to relocate the aircraftat their own risk was conveyed. Once againthe pilot flew the machine to the highestground, an isolated area which was rela-

CHC GLOBAL

Wading through snake-infested waters

Capt. S. John, left, and Roy Joyce indicate the maximumheight of floodwaters at the Terminal building.

Roy Joyce’s office wastemporarily converted to a murky swimmingpool, the level of whichvery nearly reached theaircraft manuals andcomputer equipment.


Welcome AboardHELI-ONENorwayInger Marie Monsen - Accounting assistant,Bjørg V. Eilertsen - Trainee Customer Support,Thomas Hillestad - Trainee Component planner, Inger Lise Tallaksen - CustomerAccountant, Tore Mohaugen - Skilled worker,Structure workshops, Brigt Aartun - Skilledworker/Avionic workshop, Terje Solhoff -Skilled worker, Avionic workshop, Tonje Melby- System Engineer Avionics, Kjetil Medby -Manager Finance, Erling Nilsen - Skilled worker,Hydraulic workshop, Eli Lokna - HR Adviser,Terje Lange - Skilled worker/ Component workshop, Janne Zeiffert - Technical RecordAdministratorVancouverArthur Aguila - Purchaser, Valerie Beames -Tech Records Clerk, Tracy Clement - ReceivingInspector, Tom Cole - Customer Support Officer,William Davis - Director of Base Maintenance,Cherry Fedalizo - Business Support Assistant,Marcia Fromberg - Customer Support Officer,Christina Gagno - Project Supervisor/BusinessSupport, Natalie Haywood - Marketing Analyst,Nada Ilic - Component Planner, MohamedIsmail - Component Planner, Steven Joswig -Cleaner, Andrew Kastak - ApprenticeTechnician, Jiho Kim - Apprentice Technician,Deirdre King - Purchaser, Tom Letherby -Aircraft Maintenance Engineer, Teena Mola - HR Project Coordinator, William Schuss - Tech Records Clerk, Antoine Sonnendrucker -Hangar Manager, Kathy Strauss - Data-EntryClerk, William Tsuei - Purchaser, ChrisanthosVavaris - Test Cell Operator, Victor Wong -Apprentice Technician

CORPORATEJeffery Ho - Legal Entity Accountant, MarianJakovcic - Manager, Internal Auditor, NancyMontgomery - Director, SOX Compliance,Ravinder Kaur Purewal - Accountant

GLOBAL OPERATIONSVancouverBjorn Petter Ankjell - Engineer/Level 10,Santiago Beaudean - Pilot/Level 8, Thor AbelBerthelsen - Technical Oversigh ManagerEngineer/Level 14, Paul Bordewich - Pilot/Level12, Bruce Drummond - Pilot/Level 10, GrahamDunne - Pilot/Level 12, Rene Frederiks -Pilot/Level 14 Dash 6 Captain, Sigurdur L.Gislason - Engineer/Level 14, Hannes Haberl -Engineer/Level 14, Simon Heath - Engineer/Level 11, Darren Hickenbotham - Pilot/Level 10,Bent S. Hvidberg - Pilot/Level 14, PhillipJackson - Engineer/Level 14, Brett Jensen -

Engineer/Level 12 Avionics, Gideon Joubert -Pilot/Level 10, Barry Lashley - Pilot/Level 10,Daniel Martin - Pilot/Level 10, James McCaffrey- Pilot/Level 12, Gregory Negro - Engineer/Level15, Jon Palsson - Engineer - Level 14, JaoA.Silva - Pilot (contract), William Stainthorpe -Pilot/Level 14, Boban Stamenkovic - Pilot/Level14 Dash 6 Captain, Mario Straub - Engineer/Level 14, Jens Barre Valdal - Engineer/Level 14Dash 8, Stephanie Brown - Apprentice/Engineer, Robert Chapman - TechnicalOversight Mgr, Susan A Di Giacomo - TechnicalWriter, Terri Harrett - Receptionist, Ian Hunt -Travel Coordinator, Ekwitt Inthong - Engineer/Level 2, Duduzile Kheswa - Receptionist,Ludmila Kolesnitskaya - Avionics Specialist,Clifford Lawrence - Maintenance PlanningMgr, Aubrey Allison Lim - Visa & Work PermitCoordinator, Hua Luo - Software Developer(contract), Kirsten Pfortmueller - Trainer, IrinaSakgaev - Executive Assistant, Ashley Stotts -Engineer/Level 4

AfricaChris Calnan - Base Manager/Libya,Jide Adebayo - Regional Director/Africa,Moira Smith - Financial Director/Africa, EJMLamberty - Pilot/Libya, PJ Beelen - Pilot/Libya,MW Klerk - Pilot/Libya, AC Leefers -Pilot/Libya, Graham Day - Engineer/CapeTown, Edwin de Mornay - Cadet Pilot/CapeTown, Hennie Steyn - Inspector/Cape Town,Piet Botha - Engineer/Namibia, Julia Lebaka -Cleaning Assistant/Cape Town, Jacques deSteur - Engineer/Libya, Hendrik van der Willik- Engineer/Libya

EUROPEAN OPERATIONSAberdeenAngus MacLeod - Aircraft Mechanic (unli-cenced), Jonathan Barrett - Mechanical DesignEngineer, Stanley McCallum - TechnicalAuditor, Paul Gowland - Technical Trainer,Lauraine Grant - Accounts Assistant, MorrisColenbrander - Accountant, Alistair Ingledew -Co-Pilot, Norman Wright - Co-Pilot, MariePontoppidan - Co-Pilot, Scott Carmichael -Technical Auditor, Jonathon Beddoes - FlightStandards Co-ordinator (UK), Martin Murray -Aircraft Mechanic (unlicenced), Claire Reynolds- Maintenance Programme Administrator,Mark Robson - Co-Pilot, Ann-Elin Karlsson -Ops Desk Controller/Norwegian Desk, StephaneRebeix - Co-Pilot, Simon Dupont - Co-Pilot,Karen Clark - Business Information Analyst,Shona Robertson - Operations Data Analyst

DenmarkThea Blume - Pilot, Fini Felbol - EngineerLars Korsgaard - Pilot, Claus Christensen - Ops Officer

Den HelderHilma Tolsma - Assistant Human Resources,Petra Van Saaze - Business Unit Leader

HumbersideMatthew Johnson - Dispatch officer, Scott Siddorn - Temporary dispatch Officer,James Barnett - Co-Pilot, Andrew Gardner –Mechanic

North DenesPeter Miasek - Ramp Dispatch, Peter Watts -Co-Pilot, Rene Krsitensen - Co-Pilot,Jason White - Mechanic

SligoLeif Holmegard - Co-Pilot

NorwayRandi Thomassen - Company Nurse, Kirsten J.M. Kocx - Co-pilot, Jørgen Johnsen -Co-pilot, Ronny Lie - Skilled Worker,Franciscus F. Van Dommelen - Co-pilot, LarsGullander - Co-pilot, Anne Marie Øglænd -Officer Assistant, Magnus Molnes - Co-pilot,Christian Mørkve - Co-pilot, Hans Stensvold -Ramp/Cargo Assistant, Laila Helen Aksnes -Cleaner

Promotion/ChangesHELI-ONENorwayKenneth Hovelsen - Project Manager/BaseMaintenance, Kirsti R. Frantzen - ApprenticeCoordinator, Lasse Anfinsen - InspectionSupervisor, System Avionics, Birgit E. Smeby -Business Support Officer, Brit Rosengren -Team leader Accounts Payable, Kjellaug Horne- Coordinator Logistics, Signe Espeland -Manager Technical Record operations

CORPORATE:Neil Dorken - Director of Business Information(from Corporate office to Heli-One, AmandaHobson - Treasury Manager

EUROPEAN OPERATIONSSteve Hodger - Heliport Services Supervisor(Temp), Simon Cotterell - Flight CrewManager Ireland, stephen Cropper -Line Coordinator, Alastair Finlay - SeniorTechnician, David Darwin - Senior Technician,Keiran Murray - Captain, Richard Prescott -Captain, Graham Marshall - Line Coordinator,Terry Boddy - Captain, Tony Ridley - Captain,Mark Kelly - Chief pilot, Jenny Barclay - OpsCell Manager, Daithi O'Cearbhallain - SeniorCrewman/Training Crewman, David Rolfe -Captain, Paul Rooke - Head of Training (UK),Harry Watt - Captain, Jennifer Davidson -Training Administrator, Torstein Sandven -Co-pilot, Peter Allison - Quality Manager ,Dave Richardson - Engineering Supervisor,Alan Wright - Co-Pilot, Andrew Adams

Peoplearound the world


DenmarkChristian Bay – Pilot

Den HelderRomeo Pieck - Storekeeper, Jack Van Sligter -Helideck Inspector / Helicopter Safety Instructor,Joost Hettinga - Flight Standards Coordinator,Rolf de Gier - A Cat 2 Licenssed Engineer,Wouter van Lunteren - Senior First Officer,Erik van Gelder - Senior First Officer

NorwayTerje Thorrud - Crew Training ManagerEurope, Ulf Selset - Nominated PostholderGround Operations, Dag S. Johansen -Manager Technical Training Europe,Maximilian De Bruyn - Flight Safety Advisor,Ole-Andre Lindanger - Programme Engineer,Inge Antonsen - Technical adviser, Ove Grafsrønningen - Fleet Training CaptainS92, Colin Roy ter Braak - Fleet TrainingCaptain AS 332L2

GLOBAL OPERATIONSAustraliaBlair Robertson - RCM, Peter McDonell -ACM, David Land - ACM, Guy Jackson - Pilot,Dean Benson - Pilot, Tim Gent - Overhaul,Lori Turle - Administration Officer, KynanThiele - to FT, Karen Sawyer - Finance, OliverVoegelpoel - Apprentice, Micah Hill -Apprentice, Christopher Peacock - RCM (12month temp), Micah Bernoff - RCM, AnthonyCaines – RCM

AfricaJohan Joubert - Pilot from Namibia to Global,Joshua Williams - Pilot from Namibia toGlobal, Ron Yalowica - Pilot from Ivory Coastto Global

Departures/RetiredHELI-ONENorwayOrdin Husa - Commercial Manager, John IngeKorsvik - Team leader/Avionic workshop, Siri Egeland - Purchaser, Per Kristian Lund -Skilled worker, Machine workshop, SigbjørnLangerud - Skilled worker, Engine workshop,Øystein Raknes - Skilled worker, Avionic workshop, Stian Ramsey - Skilled worker,Component workshop

CORPORATE:Jo Mark Zurel - Senior Vice-President & ChiefFinancial Officer

GLOBAL OPERATIONSAustraliaDarryl Cowling - Overhaul, Mark Stewart -ACM, Mick Macfarlane - ACM, Garry Crane -Eng, Sarah Chinnick - Management Accountant

AfricaKarl Zehrt - Regional Director/Africa, Karl Pittermann - Financial Director/Africa,Gerhard van Deventer - Pilot/Namibia, PeterRendall - Engineer/Angola, Craig Links -

Pilot/George, Louis Schutte - Engineer/Namibia, Tim Ovchinnikoff - Pilot/E G, BrianAccom - Technical Librarian/Cape Town

EUROPEAN OPERATIONSPeter Leonard - Chief Crewman/Shannon,Peter Allison - Technical Quality Auditor, ChrisTunnicliff - Snr Technician, Rune Meiniche-Bache - Ops Cell Manager, Peter Collins -Captain, Malcolm Calder - Technical Clerk,Andrew Adams - Business InformationAnalyst,Simon Boone - Ops Dispatch Officer

DenmarkKimsley Bridle - Pilot, Kurt Johansen - Pilot

Den HelderIgor van der Hoeven - Hoist Operator, Martijnde Jong - Hoist Operator, Paul Beelen Sr -Captain RW, Gertjan Sijtema - Captain RW,Jarno Mesman - B Cat 2 Licensed Engineer,Harmen de Dood - Captain RW

NorwayThorstein Stenbek - Captain, Sølvi E. Løvås -Crew Planner, Mette Sirevaag - Crew PlannerII, Helge Hofland - Captain, Terje Solesvik -Sales and Customer Support, Lars O. Lundberg- Team Supervisor, Per Gram - Captain, IngvarKristiansen - Captain, Kjetil Bjørnson -Resource Director Europe, Øyvind Strøm -Mechanic, Finn Berg - Captain, Jacob Chr.Rørdam - Captain, Dan Paulsson - OperationsOfficer, Tommy Krakenes - Co-pilot, LailaØstbø - Technician

AwardsEUROPEAN OPERATIONS25 YearsPeter Purcell

20 YearsSteve Potton, Peter Thame

15 YearsAndrew Beattie, David Monro, Paul Lunn

10 YearsSamual Manning, Andrew Allen, Keith Murray, John Monaghan

DEN HELDER25 yearsJohn Berndsen

12.5 yearsIvar Koster

NORWAY30 yearsEndre Skimten, Karl Stabell, Trond ReidarStrand, Odd Stølsvik, Vidar Tajet

25 yearsPer Johan Cappelen, Torbjørn Frafjord,Øyvind Friis-Ottesen, Hendrik Hogebrug,Oddvar Hopland, Kjell Reiestad, Colin Roy terBraak, Leif Inge Torkelsen, Arnulf Torp, TorillAsbjørnsen

20 yearsJann Karsten Holan, Atle Jensen, Brede

Mathiesen, Frode Smøraas, Kolbjørn OveStølen, Vidar Sæle, Lars Erik Tångefelt, SidselGjessen Myre, Berit Opgård, Mette Sirevaag,Greta Stokmo Skjærseth

10 yearsTore Loe, Håkon Johan Skålsvik, VivianKrüger Andersen

BirthsCORPORATEChris Wales' and his wife Petahad a girl named Georgiaborne / 18 Mar 2006

GLOBAL OPERATIONS AfricaPeter Phillips (engineer at Cape Town) and his partner Sue had a girl Kiara /26 Feb 2006,Nelson Gqibani (flight attendant/engineeringassistant) and his wife Nobongile, a girlBuyiseka Victoria, Julia Lebaka (cleaner atCape Town), and her husband had a daughterAviwe /15 Jan 2006.

EUROPEAN OPERATIONSTimothy Leas' (First Officer) and his wifeMaureen had a girl Freya Iona Lea / 20 Nov2005, Nick Ledgers'- (Co-Pilot) and his wifeJeannette had a girl Sophie Eliza Ledger / 05Mar 2006, Bjorn Tore Kjaerlands' (Co Pilot) andhis wife Ranveig had a girl Mari Kjaerland / 07Mar 2006

DEN HELDERDirk Jan Martens (Senior First Officer) and hiswife had a boy Noah Martens / 22 January2006, Mostafa Essataa (Platformmedewerker)and his wife had a girl Basma Essataa /22 Jan2006

EngagementsAustraliaLincoln Gabel (Pilot) and Sue Glass engaged inFebruary 2006

DeathsGLOBAL OPERATIONS AfricaKowie Visagie, Wife of Tommy Visagie,Engineer Cape Town, after a long struggle withcancer.


Rotortales is the employee magazine for CHC HelicopterCorporation, produced four times per year. All material is gatheredand written by CHC employees for CHC employees and interestedparties. No material contained within Rotortales magazine may be reproduced without permission of CHC Helicopter Corporation.For questions or comments, or to submit an article or photos forpublication, please contact CHC Helicopter Corporation Director of Communications Chris Flanagan, by telephone at 604-279-2493,or by e-mail at [email protected], or forward correspondence toCHC Helicopter Corporation, 4740 Agar Drive, Richmond, BC,Canada, V7B 1A3. For more information on the company, pleasevisit the website www.chc.ca.

RotorTales

CHC HeadquartersVancouverChris FlanaganDirector of [email protected]

CHC European OperationsAberdeenKaren MacConnellExecutive [email protected]

StavangerSidsel MyreExecutive [email protected]

CHC Global OperationsVancouverNancy CrowleyExecutive [email protected]

Cape TownCheryl PedersenCommercial [email protected]

AdelaideMaria NikasExecutive [email protected]

Heli-OneVancouverChristina GagnoBusiness Support [email protected]

StavangerBirgit Smeby Executive [email protected]

ROTORTALES CONTACT LIST

CHC stalwart retiresThe 31st of December 2005 marked the

retirement of Capt. Bernard Charles JohnWilliams Barney, as he is affectionatelyknown, wrapped up his 37-year profes-sional flying career in Super Puma VH-LHK based in Dili, Timor Leste, flyingunder contract for ConocoPhillips. Tocommemorate the event, the airport fireservice gave Barney a traditional tribute

Ove Kvick receives service award from Chris RidingsOve Kvick celebrates major milestone

Melinda GoodaleResource Administrator

Ove Kvick, a Senior Base Engineer has just celebrated a marvellous milestone of25 years with CHC Helicopters (Australia).Ove’s helicopter career began with theRoyal Swedish Navy in the early 70s as a crewman and engineer, resigning asChief Petty Officer in 1979 and emigratingto Australia. Ove began with LloydHelicopters in December 1980.

Ove is a dedicated and highly respectedmember of the CHC team. His careerhighlights include “having been able towork in PNG, Indonesia, Thailand,Philippines, Burma and India and seeing asmall company grow to become the majorhelicopter operation in Australia.”

Ove has maintained an interest inWinch Operation and remembers a par-

NEXT ISSUE:

Heli-One expandsbase maintenance program in Vancouver

to his last flight, albeit in less than perfectweather conditions.

Barney’s career with CHC Helicopters(Australia), formally Lloyd Helicopters,has spanned 17 years and has encompassedmulti-engine, IFR, check and trainingpositions in both EMS and Offshore.Numerous Base Management positionswere fulfilled by Barney, sometimes in extremely difficult circumstances, notthe least of which was the operation of

Super Pumas during the civil unrest andindependence elections in the struggle for Timor Leste’s autonomy.

All of Barney’s colleagues offer their congratulations and best wishes as Barney now starts his new career of travel,wine appreciation and reducing his golfhandicap.

ticular rescue in the Timor Sea in a Bell412: “We rescued 15 passengers from a Bell214ST which had ditched into the TimorSea. The helicopter had inverted in ten-footseas before any of the passengers could get out. Thanks to the HUET training, allpassengers got out without any injuries.”

Ove’s professionalism and enthusiasmtowards his job are an inspiration to allthose who have worked with him over the years. We thank him sincerely for hisefforts and look forward to a continuedworking relationship with him for manymore years..

chc rotortales_02.2006

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