GANDER, NL – The aircraft maintenance engineering technician program at College of the North Atlantic’s Gander campus has a new helicopter courtesy of the Canadian Coast Guard.
The federal government bought a new fleet of helicopters in 2016, resulting in a surplus of 10 Airbus BO105s, according to Bob Dwyer, aviation director at the Gander campus.
“(They decided) to donate them to aviation schools across Canada with the help of the National Training Association,” Dwyer said in a July 12 release.
Aviation schools from British Columbia to Newfoundland received one aircraft each.
The Gander campus presently has two helicopters and six airplanes in its fleet.
Dwyer said the Airbus BO105 has systems that are not available on its other aircraft, making it a valuable addition.
The helicopter is complete and operable but is not airworthy. It came with some ground support equipment, maintenance manuals and spare parts, which have been valuable learning tools for the students, Dwyer said.
In its current condition, the helicopter is valued at $400,000.
“Having access to aircrafts like the Airbus BO105 helps equip students at CNA with practical work experience on real-world aircraft, making them acquainted with the industry standards,” Dwyer said.
“This aircraft is an asset to us offering a multitude of projects to work on, which makes it easy for students to understand a lot of the technology (instrument flight system on board operating procedures, operating controls) and materials used in aircrafts.”
(CORRECTION: The original press release for this story stated that the helicopter was donated by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, it was actually donated by the Canadian Coast Guard.)
