MY 2 CENTS
be coordinated into a single event, reducing duplicate travel, administrative workload, and aircraft downtime.
One example of this FAA-authorized model is Helicopter Institute, which has a business approach unlike most Part 135 operators. Rather than using its Part 135 certificate to conduct routine passenger transportation or utility operations, Helicopter Institute maintains its certificate specifically to provide contract pilot training and checking services for other Part 135 certificate holders. Its aircraft are intentionally dedicated to training, not commercial transportation missions. That distinction means the fleet is purpose-built to support pilot qualification and recurrent training rather than competing with revenue flights for aircraft availability.
Using aircraft listed within its FAA-approved D085 operations specifications, Helicopter Institute conducts training and checking in its own aircraft or in customer aircraft while operating under the customer’s FAA-approved Part 135 training program. The company’s training philosophy fully integrates classroom instruction, aircraft-specific simulation devices, and aircraft training to develop pilot proficiency while satisfying FAA requirements, insurance
expectations, and operational objectives whenever practical. As the Airbus Helicopters North American Training Center, it also provides factory-authorized AS350 and H125 instruction, including specialized NVG training.
Helicopter Institute is not highlighted because it is the only organization capable of providing this service. Rather, it represents one practical example of how the FAA’s contract training authority can be applied to help operators manage an
increasingly complex training
environment. Other Part 135 operators may choose to develop similar capabilities as industry needs continue to evolve.
That is why the timing of this discussion is important. AMTC brings together operators, regulators, manufacturers, insurers, educators, and training providers with a common objective of how to improve the safety and effectiveness of
helicopter emergency medical services.
It is the ideal forum to discuss every FAA- authorized pathway available to develop and maintain pilot proficiency.
Internal training departments, Part 142 training centers, and contract Part 135 training providers
are not competing philosophies. They are complementary tools made available
Randy Rowles has been an FAA pilot examiner for 20 years for all helicopter certificates and ratings. He holds an FAA Gold Seal Flight Instructor Certificate, NAFI Master Flight Instructor designation, and was the 2013 recipient of the HAI Flight Instructor of the Year Award. Rowles is currently the owner of the Helicopter Institute. He can be reached at randyrowlesdpe@
gmail.com
by the FAA to address different operational challenges. The question is not which model is best, but which combination of resources best supports a particular operator’s mission.
The FAA anticipated that flexibility years ago. As our industry continues to face staffing shortages, increasing costs, and growing operational demands, perhaps it is time to give this often overlooked authority the attention it deserves. If this article encourages that conversation at AMTC and beyond, then it will have served its purpose.
rotorpro.com
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