Columbia Helicopters is pleased to announce that the international risk management firm Det Norske Veritas recently registered the Oregon-based company to the aerospace quality standard of EN/AS9110.

This certification establishes quality standards for work performed by aerospace Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) organizations within the United States.  Columbia Helicopters’ certification also recognizes that the company meets a corresponding standard throughout Europe.

Ultimately, achievement of this qualification will mean access to additional repair work for the company.  Many aerospace Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) increasingly require MRO’s to be AS9110 certified by a third-party registrar.   As an AS9110 certified MRO, Columbia Helicopters increases its ability to accept contracts from customers that flow down AS9110 as a requirement.

“We have long believed that our maintenance personnel and facilities were of the highest standards,” said Michael Fahey, President of Columbia Helicopters.  “Achieving the EN/AS9110 certification is an internationally accepted means of demonstrating this standard to our customers around the world.

Columbia Helicopters, Inc. is now one of less than 350 companies worldwide that have been certified to the AS9110 standard, with less than 100 such companies in the U.S.

“This standard is one of the most recent and most rigorous quality system standards tailored to the aerospace MRO industry,” said Chris Hankland, Director of Quality for Columbia Helicopters.  “In addition to meeting the quality system requirements of ISO 9001:2008 and EN/JISQ/AS9100:2004, which are typical of OEM’s, we have met the additional EN/AS9110:2003 requirements to include additional safety, reliability and airworthiness requirements for both military and commercial aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul.”

Columbia Helicopters owns and operates the world’s largest privately-held fleet of heavy-lift helicopters.  It uses these aircraft globally to support petroleum exploration, fire-fighting, construction and helicopter logging operations.  The company’s fleet is maintained and supported through its headquarters at Wes Lematta Field at the Aurora State Airport in Aurora, Oregon. Due to the similarity of aircraft operated by the company, Columbia Helicopters also performs outside maintenance work on aircraft & components belonging to military units in countries around the world.