Early next year, Helsinki, Finland-based operator Copterline will restart one of the few scheduled public helicopter routes in the world. It discontinued the flight between the neighboring capitals of Helsinki and Tallinn, Estonia, after the 2005 fatal crash of a Sikorsky S-76C+ (see AIN, October, page 74). The Estonian commission tasked with investigating the 14-fatality crash in August issued an interim report, confirming the malfunction of the main rotor’s forward actuator. Copterline is suing the helicopter manufacturer. The release of the final report is scheduled for next spring.
Copterline is now operating under new ownership and management. “To restart the Helsinki-Tallinn route, we have ordered two AgustaWestland AW139s,” new CEO Jerker Molander told AIN. They will replace the S-76C+s Copterline had been using until the crash. The 14,000-pound-class AW139 is bigger than the S-76. However, Copterline’s AW139s will accommodate the same number of passengers–12–as the S-76. Deliveries are scheduled for early next year and the fall of next year.
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