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- Azure, a Canadian company that hopes to be a leader in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production in this country, has obtained over $6 million from the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB), a federal crown corporation, and Natural Resources Canada’s Clean Fuels Fund to partially fund a front-end engineering and design (FEED) study for a SAF production facility that would eventually be built near Portage la Prairie, Manitoba.
- Marc Parent, CAE’s CEO, is to be inducted as a ‘Living Legend of Aviation’ at a gala event tonight (Friday, Jan. 19) in recognition of his contribution to the aviation industry. The award is given by the Kiddie Hawk Air Academy, an American not-for-profit dedicated to providing inspiration for young people to pursue a career in aviation. Parent is joined at the induction ceremony this year by U.S. citizens Fred George (a US Navy pilot and writer) and Steve Hinton (a one-time world speed record holder) and U.S. resident Prince Harry (a British Army helicopter pilot who served in the Afghan war).
- A helicopter struck a Metro Vancouver highway overpass earlier this week. The Vancouver area has been plagued lately by string of highway overpass collisions caused by drivers hauling over-height loads, but one of the latest incidents raised eyebrows when the hub of the main rotor assembly of a shrink-wrapped helicopter fuselage being transported on a flatbed trailer scraped the underside of a Highway 1 overpass in Burnaby. No one was injured in the incident.
- Quebec remains the only province in Canada without a helicopter emergency ambulance service, and residents are complaining. Although the provincial government set aside $125 million for such a service almost a year ago, when or where it will operate remains unclear. “There have been a number of deaths and tragic situations over the years where the existence of such a service would have probably prevented or at least increased the chances of a better outcome for these patients,” said Patrick Martin-Ménard, who represents the family of a child who didn’t get urgent care in time and died. The investigating coroner cited a delay in the arrival of a ground ambulance and the long travel time to a healthcare facility as factors in the child’s death. A private operator, Airmedic, provides some medevac services but is limited by the lack of helipads and related infrastructure at or near hospitals throughout the province.