According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) data for 2017 through 2019, over 50 helicopter operators conducted approximately 88,000 helicopter flights within 30 miles of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (D.C. area), though limited data on noise from these flights exist. According to operators, these flights supported various missions (see table below). While the number of… Read more »
Source: GAO, 14-Jan-21
The material condition of the Air Forces’ aging HH-60G fleet has declined and maintenance challenges have increased, in part due to extensions beyond the designed service life of the helicopters. About 68 percent of the 96-helicopter fleet were mission-capable as of fiscal year 2017, below the Air Force desired mission-capable rate of 75 percent. The… Read more »
Source: GAO, 10-Sep-18
Between 2010 and 2014, the median prices providers charged for helicopter air ambulance service approximately doubled, from around $15,000 to about $30,000 per transport, according to Medicare data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and private health insurance data. Air ambulance providers do not turn away patients based on their ability to… Read more »
Source: GAO, 09-Aug-17
Timberline Helicopters, Inc., of Sandpoint, Idaho, requests reconsideration of our decision, Timberline Helicopters, Inc., B-414507, June 27, 2017, 2017 CPD, denying its protest challenging the terms of request for proposals (RFP) No. D17PS00157, issued by the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), for an exclusive use heavy size helicopter to transport qualified… Read more »
Source: GAO, 08-Aug-17
The Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS) thanks the Government Accountability Office (GAO) for its efforts producing the report on air medical issues. The report, titled “Air Ambulance: Data Collection and Transparency Needed to Enhance DOT Oversight,” affirms that the Department of Transportation has the authority, under current law, to address industry data collection and… Read more »
Source: AAMS, 02-Aug-17
DynCorp International (DI) is disappointed that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has denied its protest of a Department of State (DOS) award of the Worldwide Aviation Support Services (WASS) contract to AAR Airlift Group (AAR). DI will immediately pursue legal recourse before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Additionally, two separate but related proceedings continue…. Read more »
Source: DynCorp International, 09-Jan-17
AAMS is very pleased to announce Representatives Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Gregory Meeks (D-NY), the co-chairs of the Congressional Air Medical Caucus, along with Todd Young (R-IN) and Bill Johnson (R-OH), formally introduced legislation in the House of Representatives this morning to utilize a common-sense, data-driven approach to update the Air Ambulance Medicare Fee Schedule… Read more »
Source: AAMS, 16-Feb-15
The Department of Defense’s (DOD) rationale for waiving the competitive prototyping requirement in the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009, as amended (WSARA), for the VXX program addresses one of the two bases provided in the statute; namely that the cost of producing competitive prototypes exceeds the expected life-cycle benefits (in constant dollars) of… Read more »
Source: GAO, 11-Sep-13
DOD’s rationale for waiving WSARA’s competitive prototyping requirement for CRH addresses one of the two bases provided in the statute; namely that the cost of producing competitive prototypes exceeds the expected life-cycle benefits (in constant dollars) of producing the prototypes. The CRH program’s acquisition strategy, which anticipates integrating an existing, in-production and flight-proven aircraft with… Read more »
Source: GAO, 19-Mar-13
The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued report GAO-13-36 (PDF, 44 pages) after looking into GA safety issues. Here is their summary:- What GAO Found The number of nonfatal and fatal general aviation accidents decreased from 1999 through 2011; more than 200 fatal accidents occurred in each of those years. Airplanes—particularly single-engine piston airplanes—flying personal… Read more »
Source: GAO, 07-Oct-12
The formal start of the VXX presidential helicopter program has been delayed, as finding an acceptable solution has proved elusive. Last year, we reported that the VXX effort was in the earliest stages of development–still developing a business case to launch product development. At that time, an AOA—required for a Milestone A decision initiating the… Read more »
Source: GAO, 06-Mar-12
Cornische Aviation and Maintenance Limited, Sharjah, UAE announced they have won their protest against the US Army for improperly including sustainment in the contract for 21 Russian Mi-17 helicopters. In June 2011 the US Army issued a $367M sole source award to the Russian arms company Rosoboronexport for the purchase of 21 Mi-17 aircraft, initial… Read more »
Source: Cornische Aviation and Maintenance, 21-Aug-11
The United States Marine Corps is facing a critical shortage of heavy-lift aircraft. In addition, current weapon systems are heavier than their predecessors, further challenging the Marine Corps’s current CH-53E heavy-lift helicopters. To address the emerging heavy-lift requirements, the Marine Corps initiated the CH-53K Heavy Lift Replacement program, which has experienced significant cost increase and… Read more »
Source: GAO, 06-Apr-11
The Pentagon argued that Afghani pilots already know how to fly Mi-17s because of the lengthy Soviet occupation, and that training them on new helicopters would take years.
Source: CTnow, 16-Nov-10
The US Government Accountability Office has denied a protest by Sikorsky that the US Navy unfairly excluded it from competing for a multi-billion dollar helicopter contract
11-Nov-10
The Army’s current efforts to transform and modernize its aviation assets began in 1999, seeking to maintain and improve the warfighting capabilities of the existing force as well as to invest in science and technology in a way that improved the future force. To accomplish these goals, the Army focused on upgrading and modernizing existing… Read more »
Source: GAO, 30-Sep-09
Source: GAO, 24-Apr-09
