PHi and Bristow 'Holding Hands' in opposing US government bid to improve GOM safety:
Helicopter companies fight new law?
LAFAYETTE — Two large helicopter companies that serve the offshore industry are fighting a new state law that would require personal location devices for oil-and-gas workers being transported to platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.
PHI and Bristow argue in a federal lawsuit filed last week in Lafayette that the law is an improper and unnecessary intrusion by the state into the realm of aviation regulation, which is generally handled by the federal government.
The law, intended to make it easier to find workers after a crash in the Gulf, was passed by the Legislature this year and is scheduled to take effect in January.
The new safety regulation was dubbed “Jacob’s Law,” named after 26-year-old Jacob Matt, of Jennings, an offshore worker whose body was not found until four days after a 2008 helicopter crash off Sabine Pass near the Texas-Louisiana border.
The legislation was sponsored by state Rep. John Guinn, R-Jennings, who said Tuesday that he pushed the safety requirement at the behest of Matt’s family and other offshore workers in his south Louisiana district.
He said the personal location devices could help search crews find downed workers in time to save their lives.
“If it happens 1 mile offshore, you’re kind of looking for a piece of black pepper in a barnyard,” Guinn said.
He said that “with the technology available today, it’s a shame we don’t already have this implemented.”
PHI Chief Administrative Officer Richard Rovinelli said the Lafayette-based helicopter company is not opposed to new safety equipment but that any new regulations should be developed in collaboration with the offshore transportation industry and federal aviation officials.
“We recognize the state was trying to do the right thing,” Rovinelli said.
He said PHI has made safety a priority and already uses satellite-based flight tracking of helicopters and stocks the helicopters with life rafts equipped with location devices.
The legal challenge by PHI and Bristow centers on the argument that the state should not be entering the federal realm of aviation regulation.
But attorneys for the companies also argue in court filings that the safety regulation could tarnish the image of the offshore transportation business by leading customers to believe the law was needed to address an unsafe operation.
The attorneys further argue that if the companies do not employ personal location devices in other states that customers outside of Louisiana might perceive “an indifference towards the safety of non-Louisiana passengers.”