Airspan Helicopters Ltd.

Airspan Helicopters is a British Columbia helicopter operator with its main base in Sechelt. It describes itself as BC based with coast to coast service across Canada, and its pilots have worked from the coastal and mountain regions of BC and Alberta to the forests and lakes of northern Ontario and Quebec. The company specializes in precision long lining and mountain operations and tailors each job to the customer.

Services

• Precision longline and rigging, including construction material and concrete delivery, equipment recovery, log grappling and line clearing
• Wildfire firefighting: bucketing, crew moves, initial and expanded attack, hover exit and admin aircraft
• Powerline construction and maintenance: insulator installation, structure construction and repair, stringing, structure access, line patrol and vegetation removal
• Class D operations (human external cargo) using a platform, fixed line, hoist or winch
• Tours and VIP charters, crew moves and remote area access, wildlife survey and capture, heli-skiing and avalanche control
• Fuel sales to other aircraft operators at the main base and through tanker trucks, from a fuel system maintained to CSA B836

Fleet and maintenance

The company states that it has five helicopters in light, intermediate and medium lift classes, plus fuel supply vehicles including an envirotanker. Jobs can last from a day to a month or more. Airspan is an Approved Maintenance Organization regulated and audited by Transport Canada, and its main base in Sechelt houses a maintenance facility staffed by Aircraft Maintenance Engineers.

Safety

Airspan runs a Safety Management System that it says exceeds Transport Canada guidelines and is audited both internally and by third party specialists. The system identifies hazards, evaluates risk and puts barriers in place.