From the Field: FlightSafety to Open Center For Offshore Training in U.S.

FlightSafety International is adding a new center dedicated to offshore helicopter training.

Training at the new, 70,000-sq-ft Learning Center in Lafayette, La. is to begin in 2008. The facility is designed to accommodate up to eight full flight simulators and will feature advanced-technology training devices and classrooms equipped with FlightSafety’s MATRIX instruction-support system. Gulf of Mexico offshore operators use about eight different made by Agusta, AgustaWestland, Bell Helicopter, Eurocopter, and Sikorsky Aircraft.

In addition to offshore operations, the aircraft are involved in emergency medical service, law enforcement, and electronic news-gathering operations. FlightSafety intends to offer type and mission-specific training in Lafayette for the majority of helicopter types operating in the area.

The first simulator at the center is to be a new Sikorsky S-76C+/C++ device and will feature FlightSafety’s electric motion and control loading technology and VITAL X visual system. The flight training devices will also incorporate FlightSafety’s latest visual system, as well as software and key components used in full flight simulators, and will possess the same operating characteristics as a full flight simulator without a motion base system.