HI Uplift: Milestone puts firefighting S-92s to work

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by Mike Stones

19 August 2024

Milestone has forged a partnership with Helitak Fire Fighting Equipment.

It’s a marriage made, if not in heaven, then at least in fire-torn skies. As wildfires worldwide intensify, lessor Milestone Aviation and Helitak Fire Fighting Equipment devised a plan to combat global conflagration. They have matched a Sikorsky S-92A helicopter with an FT5000 fire tank. The pairing has just earned an FAA Supplemental Type Certificate – opening a new chapter for the S-92 workhorse.

Sebastien Moulin, chief commercial officer, Milestone puts the challenge and the opportunity into perspective. “The situation with global incidences of wildfires has become increasingly alarming in recent years,” Moulin tells us. “From conversations we are having with our customers and other helicopter operators, it is apparent that there is a gap in the market for a large-cabin standard category helicopter that is capable of carrying fire crews and a fire suppression tank system.”

‘Secondary missions’

Milestone sees two areas of opportunity. “The first being increased investment in fire protection from national and transnational bodies, and the second being the requirement for fleet renewal of older generation aircraft for secondary missions,” said Moulin.

“Building on this, we collaborated with Helitak to develop an industry-first firefighting platform”. The result of marrying Helitak’s FT5000 carbon fibre, lightweight system with the capabilities of the S-92A is “an ideal firefighting solution”, he says. The FT5000 system includes a retractable belly-mounted fire suppression tank with a 5,000-litre (1,320 US gal) capacity.

The lessor and Helitak have worked closely over the past two years to develop and test the new solution. Designed specifically for the S-92A, the tank can be installed or removed in minutes and is equipped with a hover pump that achieves a fill time of 48 seconds.

Milestone, the world’s largest owner of S-92s with more than 70 aircraft in its fleet, believes the recent FAA certification opens a new area of operation for the old workhorse. Equipped with updated avionics and the helicopter’s cabin layout mean that in addition to dropping water and retardant, it can transport up to 19 firefighters to the front lines of wildfire events. Plus, its rear-loading cargo ramp is said to enable operators to complete a speedy reconfiguration from passenger and equipment transfers to cargo hauling or medevac services.

‘Firefighting market’

“Bringing a standard category modern aircraft with a large cabin and rear loading ramp to the firefighting market is a very exciting development for our industry and introduces a new and unique set of capabilities to the firefighting market,” Moulin tells us.

The first S-92A helicopter fitted with a FT5000 fire tank was delivered recently to launch customer Canadian Helicopter operator VIH Aviation Group (VIH). The helicopter has already been deployed on firefighting missions across Western Canada, dropping over 1m litres of water in its first 12 days of operation.

But it won’t be the last. There’s lots of potential to build a new firefighting fleet of S-92s, as they transition from their primary mission in offshore transport to new roles, according to Milestone. It estimates there are almost 200 S-92 helicopters currently in service in the offshore industry. By 2030, more than 70 of these aircraft will surpass 20 years of operation which will see a significant amount transition to a secondary mission, says the lessor.

‘Interest from operators’

Moulin puts the potential like this: “We’ve seen a number of aircraft parted-out in recent years as they reached higher airframe hours, but this firefighting platform can facilitate extending the economic lifespan of the aircraft to 35 years due to the lower flying hours in secondary missions such as firefighting. We have already seen significant interest from operators in evaluating this as a potential avenue to extend the lifespan of their S-92 fleet.”

The S-92 is certified for 30,000 hours of operation, explains Moulin. Flying a primary offshore mission, an aircraft will usually complete an average of 1,200 hours per year. This means that as the asset approaches 20 years, it might have around 6,000 hours of flight time left before it must be parted out. “As secondary missions tend to have lower usage hours (300-400 hours per year, on average), the aircraft can fly for a further 15-20 years, therefore increasing future revenue potential and supporting the residual value,” he says.

The lessor’s partner Helitak believes the two companies have delivered a “world-class firefighting solution”. Its founder and CEO Jason Schellaars says: “With older S-92As coming out of the offshore market, the addition of the Helitak FT5000 system will allow S-92A operators to capitalise on the aircraft’s versatility by operating it as a standard category aircraft.”

Read more about helicopter firefighting – including how the industry believes low contract rates are deterring operators – here.

Meanwhile, as more wildfires ignite around the world – not least this week in California and on the northern outskirts of Athens – a repurposed S-92 sporting a new 1,320 US gal capacity tank loaded with fire retardant sounds like a very happy marriage.