Helicopter - Cal Fire buys 12 S-70`s - Rotor&Wing

Cal Fire Picks S-70i to Replace Hueys; Leonardo Weighs Protest

By James T. McKenna | August 4, 2017

Air Methods, CAL FIRE, contract, Fire Hawk, Sikorsky, United Rotorcraft, Fire

 
 
 
 
 

Photo courtesy of Sikorsky

California's Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection intends to award a team, led by Air Methods as prime contractor, a five-year contract to customize 12 Sikorsky S-70is as replacements for the agency’s obsolescent fleet of a dozen Bell Helicopter UH-1Hs.

The Forestry and Fire Protection Dept., known as Cal Fire, said its Hueys have served it well, thanks in large part to its FAA award-winning maintenance program and skilled pilots. But it is increasingly difficult to keep the aircraft flying.

“We are at the stage where we’ve exhausted a finite supply of parts,” Janet Upton of Cal Fire told R&WI.

The first of the new helicopters, which will carry a price tag of about $20 million piece (training and life-cycle costs included), are to be delivered within about a year – barring a protest of the contract award.

Air Methods’ United Rotorcraft unit had been working with Sikorsky and its other team members since April to craft a winning bid for new helicopters to perform aerial firefighting and other missions. They were competing against Leonardo Helicopters, which had offered its AW189.

Leonardo late Friday was weighing whether to protest the pending contract award. California's Dept. of General Services posted a notice of intent to award the contract to the Air Methods team on Aug. 2, setting the deadline to file a written intent to protest the award by 5 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time Aug. 4.