News
Volume 26, No. 2 Autumn 2004
Chinooks Head
to South America
After a short absence from
South America, three of Columbia
Helicopters’ Chinook helicopters
are back at work in the Southern
Hemisphere.
One Chinook (N241CH) is in
Ecuador working for Agip in the
Villano field. A second Chinook
(N245CH), configured as a combi
for passenger as well as cargo
transport, began working for
Occidental Ecuador in late Novem-
ber. A third Chinook (N242CH)
began the summer working in Peru
for Occidental Peru, then moved
north to work for Oxy Ecuador until
their present aircraft, 245, was released from a fire contract in the US. 242 is now back in Peru getting ready
to make a second rig move for Occidental there. It has also acquired the contract to move a drilling rig for
Repsol after the Oxy move.
One new aspect of Columbia’s operations in South America is the establishment of our own company in
Peru. Previously, Columbia worked through Heliunion de Peru, an established subsidiary of the French heli-
copter company. General Manager Jose Miguel Raffo and Project Manager Reto Schwarz lead operations in
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