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THIS WEEK

ightglobal.com 8-14 March 2016 | Flight International | 9

B-21 bomber

breaks cover for

USAF

NEWS FOCUS P 11

F

inmeccanica Helicopters has

scored the backing of another

important operator for its develop-

mental AgustaWestland AW609,

even as it works to return the civil

tiltrotor to flight from a self-im-

posed grounding in place since a

fatal crash last October involving

its second prototype.

Era Group announced during

the HAI Heli-Expo show in

Louisville, Kentucky, that it had

entered into an agreement with

the manufacturer to develop an

emergency medical services vari-

ant of the 8t rotorcraft. This

builds on similar agreements

signed over the past 12 months

covering offshore transport and

search and rescue models.

Chris Bradshaw, Era Group

chief executive, says the

exclusive deal will allow the heli-

copter operator to “understand

the capabilities and mission pro-

file” of the AW609, in order to

draw up the business case for its

A

failure to obtain scope clause

relief by US regional carriers

could boost sales prospects for the

CRJ900 regional jet, predicts Bom-

bardier vice-president of commer-

cial operations Ross Mitchell.

In the latest round of contract

negotiations with pilot unions,

US airlines passed on increased

seat and weight limits for region-

al jet fleets, which remain capped

at 76 seats and a 39,000kg

(86,000lb) maximum take-off

weight. The issue is set to return

to the bargaining table when the

next round of contracts are nego-

tiated at the end of the decade. By

that point, the Mitsubishi Region-

al Jet and Embraer E175-E2 are

scheduled to be available.

Speaking at the ISTAT Ameri-

cas conference in Phoenix, Ari-

zona on 1 March, Mitchell did

not identify the rival products by

PROGRAMME DOMINIC PERRY LOUISVILLE

New Era for troubled AW609 tiltrotor

Finmeccanica’s civil rotorcraft wins support of major helicopter operator to develop emergency medical services variant

Bombardier targets US scope-clause opportunity

MARKET STEPHEN TRIMBLE PHOENIX

CRJ900 could be reconfigured to carry up to 81 passengers

name, but made the point that de-

veloping a new aircraft that ex-

ceeds the existing scope clause

limit could be a risky bet.

“That’s a scary place to be, be-

cause you don’t have control over

it. It’s not that even your custom-

ers don’t control it. It’s your

customers’ pilots unions that

control it,” he notes.

Unlike the Embraer and Mit-

subishi types, the CRJ900 weighs

3,000kg less than the maximum

limit under existing scope claus-

es. It is configured with 76 seats

in the US market, but if revised

scope clauses add four to five

seats Bombardier could offer a

configuration with up 81 passen-

gers by tightening seat pitch.

The 85-seat-class E175-E2 is

the third and final member of the

E-Jet-E2 family, and is not sched-

uled to appear in service until

2020. If scope-clause relief is not
      obtained by then, Embraer has
      said it could still offer the original
      version of the E175 for the US
      market, rather than deploy the
      stretched, re-engined and re-
      winged version.
      Mitchell says Bombardier also
      has a plan in case scope-clause
      limits are raised to allow the new
      products to compete for orders in
      the US regional market.
      “All of a sudden the CRJ
      comes into the equation,” he
      says. “If you get a few extra seats
      the aircraft becomes a relevant
      player in the North American
      market. It certainly has operating
      costs that are well below those of
      the competition.” ■

operation, as well as designing a

suitable cabin configuration.

However, Bradshaw stresses

that Era has not made any com-

mitment to order the AW609. “It

is a joint commitment to explore

the market for the aircraft. We

have not specified a certain num-

ber of helicopters or a certain

time for delivery.”

A question mark has been

hanging over the Pratt & Whitney

Canada PT6-powered AW

since the fatal accident last year.

But Finmeccanica Helicopters is

now “confident” that it under-

stands the cause of the crash.

“We have a very good

understanding of the events and

have a view of the most probable

causes,” says Clive Scott, AW

programme manager. “That is

what’s leading us to say we are

expecting to resume flight tests.”

Depending on the outcome of

the ongoing accident investiga-

tion, which is being led by Italy’s

will follow later this year.

Scott says long lead-time com-

ponents – notably the wings and

fuselage – for the initial produc-

tion aircraft are already being

built, with first customer delivery

due in 2018.

A fourth prototype will follow

later this year. ■

See Show Report P

The joint commitment is to explore a new market for the 8t type

Finmeccanica Helicopters

AirTeamImages

ANSV agency, “it is possible there

could be some modifications to

the aircraft”, he reveals, although

he does not anticipate these affect-

ing the 2017 certification target.

Ground runs of the company’s

third prototype (N609PA) are due

to commence shortly, with the

aircraft having been rolled out at

the end of February. Its first flight

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