Stay away from the worst company in PNG and most likely the world.
 

The said company does everything wrong. From late pay for staff to major maintenance issues never getting solved.Pilots go there for twin time and soon realize that after paying for a 105 endorsement they have to cope with major safety issues and legality issues. Maintenance is bellow any standards and the CEO/Chief pilot/ Director of maintenance/Ops manager (yup,all in one) regularly flies climbing and descending trough overcast up to 15-16000 ft with no oxygen installed for the crew. We're talking intentional IMC in VFR aircraft. On regular bases ffs! This is implicitly encouraged for the other pilots. This idiocy is considered some kind of heroism and, at times, when a pilot stands down a mission due to bad weather ,the clown above mentioned will kick the pilot off and against all laws of man and common sense goes and gets it done.The pretext is local knowledge. Duty times are not observed as in all the no fly days are counted as days off. Maintenance....Good Lord! The mechanics will not move a finger without approval from the superior clown council. And by that I mean they will release aircraft in to service with known airworthiness defects. The pilot gets a bunch of BS thrown his way, the books get fudged and off you go hoping for the next pay to be in time and to get them twin hours so you can exit Lala land in one single piece.In fact,the level of incompetence in the maintenance dept. makes it a bit comforting when they don't take stuff apart and put it back with a bunch of left overs. Can anybody guess what company we're talking about? It starts with M and ends with S .This needs to be common knowledge so people stay away from them .

Man.....yeah, those with any PNG experience know who it is....I know an engineer who works for them. It took months for him to get paid, and in the end I think he threatened to go to the PNGCAA and reveal all their shonky maintenance practices that he eventually got paid (he had to fit an engine part that had no paperwork for it, plus many other examples). I offered to do training for their S76 pilots and was met with a barrage of abuse in return. But his big bait is offering twin time to young pilots with very little experience, and there are plenty of those around.

...the 76 was flying the last time I had any contact with them....the fatal was a very experienced pilot flying into a mountain in bad weather (from memory about 5 or 6 years ago, I knew the pilot when he worked for Pachel).

I know of pilots who went to PNG CAA with proof of bad maintenance and crazy flight practices. Nothing got done. I think there is an effort to get them to investigate as we speak. Maybe it will work this time.

Sounds like a great outfit:

HeliHub.com 08-Aug-11 P2-RUH Eurocopter Bo105LS Timini, Papua New Guinea (3F) :rolleyes:

The story goes that the head clown pressured the pilot on the phone in to flying back to base after the cery experienced pilot landed in Bulolo and was gonna wait it out. I don't doubt the source of the story . Recently , one of their pilots was canned without previous warnings for bringing to their attention that covering bases 7 days a week for 5 months and counting the days with no flights as days off is illegal. To go even further up the insanity scale, the QA woman (a low time pilot) organized 2 thugs to forcefuly remove the pilot from his accommodations , put him in the back of a vehicle and make sure he gets on the plane . Wow!

Good to Know,
there should be a thread pinned to the top titled: Companies to avoid, and the reason why.

That way if you go work for them at least you're aware of what are you getting yourself in to..

Many problems in PNG have their genesis with money. Operators not being paid by clients has flow-on affects to staff not being paid by employers. Even with government department clients, no guarantee of getting paid. I'm not making excuses for this particular company, I've heard horror stories from people I know and trust who've worked there under the present management.

Thought the Chief Pilot there was a Kiwi - S**** H****

No. He's the training captain. Goes there,does the training fair and square ,tries to solve some of the problems . Hits the wall and goes back to his business. Not the cause nor the solution for the BS mist that hangs over the place. The head clown and his side show QA/base manager/hiring and firing manager/mini chief pilot wanna be are the cause and keep the batteries charged for the BS machine.

Just be aware there is actually 2 companies...
One is the parent.

Can some kind soul please PM a full name of this company to me? I'm considering converting my EASA licence to AUS or NZ one and was hoping to land a job at PNG at some point. I'm not that familiar with all the companies there. Fairly experienced, sling, even some twin time...

What I read here is shocking. Just to know where NOT to send a CV.

Thanks.

If you want to work in PNG you need a PNG license. Having an Australian or NZ license is no advantage to you over the native license you already have. The PNG employer will sponsor a new-hire expatriate employee through the PNG licensing process, and the work permit process. Firstly a validation of the foreign license is applied for, primarily so you can do flight training whilst undergoing the required medical and theory exams. When I got my PNG license (17 years ago) the process took a few days; now, probably a little longer.

Getting hired in PNG is more the case of knowing somebody already working there. Sending a CV is likely to end up on a pile of CV, and that pile isn't always looked at when a job vacancy arises.

Out of curiosity I just visited the subject operators website and noticed at the bottom of their home page it was last updated on 8 July 2010.

The clues are all contained within:
post #1 "starts with m and ends with s"
post #2 "man..."
post #3 "P2-RUH" the rego is the surname of the owner/FOM.

Those 3 pieces of the puzzle will only fit one outcome of a google search "png helicopter operators"

My advice to anybody wanting to work in PNG for the first time: accept the offer from any employer (even the one mentioned in this topic), negotiate the licensing process, and once you have your PNG license do your best in the role you were employed for. If you don't like what you see speak up through the appropriate internal channels, and if there is no resolution you can always exercise the option in your contract by giving notice. The PNG license is yours to keep. When the next job opportunity comes around and they need you yesterday, having the PNG license makes you very competitive, assuming you made a professional exit on your previous job.

Keep in mind that PNG is a developing country (actually, some might say it has been getting more dysfunctional every year since 1975), and tribal mentality applies throughout much of the country. Whilst I would never advocate the bending of the rules, bending of the rules happens, either on pilot initiative or pressure from management in various ways. When the bending of the rules extends to (for example) the fitting of engine parts with no paperwork, and no maintenance logbook entry, that is just far too bent. The regulator might not show much interest should they learn of such things, I can only recall two instances where they pulled a helicopter operator AOC, and only one where they took any administrative action against a helicopter pilot.

The RUH BO 105 accident was in 2011. His name wasn't Peter Wallace as in the report but his initials were PW. I was his chief pilot for 7 years & flew with him numerous times. He learned to fly later in life privately after doing a stint as an engineer in the RAAF. When he applied to join Hookway Aviation in Hobart, his flying was not acceptable for the conditions we could get in Tassie. He went away & got some more hours in both the US & on the mainland, applied again & joined Hookway which became Brambles & then Helicopter Resources. I spent some time giving him both instrument & night training but to be honest it was beyond him. He went on the marine pilot job in Port Hedland but couldn't handle the night flying & asked to return to Hobart where he was an excellent VFR pilot & knew he had to keep clear of cloud. I gave him a good VFR reference to get a job in Hong Kong in 1990 which was the last time I saw him but we did speak on the phone when back in OZ. With all his experience & knowing his weakness, I am surprised & sorry he ended up like that. I have no doubt he felt obliged to push on due to the attitude of the company. A sad loss.

The QA woman did get decked by a ground crew and I am not surprised due to company culture. On one instance the CEO acted like an absolute mad man while firing a pilot on the recommendation of the QA. There is no good reason for that in any circumstances .In another instance the local ops girl got fired for dating a white employee and that reason wasn't even veiled . No cultural customs allow for such bullying and medieval ways.

I can't help but lose respect for the pilots that sell their soul to work for a grubby company like this! I hope I don't end up working alone side any pilots that accept ****ty maintainence and pull on bad weather in such a hostile environment. They have accepted being part of a bad culture. All to gain a head start with a bit of twin time. I know a pilot that spent a couple of years there, into a bk117 and struts like a skygod... lucky not to meet god I'd say!

The last time I saw Peter he arrived in very bad weather in a VFR helicopter with a HF radio and other things that weren't working, was white as a ghost because he said he almost lost it out over the sea. Whilst refuelling I offered him an overnight at my base, but he decided against it and took off in the same weather towards the mountains. He said he was under time pressure to get back to Lae, which I understood to be for family reasons. I'm quite sure that particular employer wouldn't expect a pilot to push on into bad weather like that.

If offered a job there is no harm in going and making your own assessment. A bit like the weather, if it looks a bit iffy it's still worth taking off and having a look for yourself. I have never worked for the company the subject of this discussion. My only direct interaction is what I mentioned earlier.

And regarding that licensing thing: I don't know how things stand today, but I would be very surprised if you could work in PNG as a helicopter pilot without either a validation of a foreign license, or a PNG license. And about the work permit, yes, it is what it is and I wouldn't be surprised if there were pilots working in PNG on tourist visas. And on the aspect of taxes, I know some funny business can happen there. If you are working in PNG the employer must give you a tax certificate (from memory, at the end of each calendar year, and on cessation of employment) stating the salary earned and the taxes deducted from salary. If an employer won't give you a tax certificate it's a sure bet the taxes that have been deducted from salary have not been remitted where they are supposed to go.

The day I last saw him was not the day of the accident, and he was working for a different operator to the one being discussed here. What I said above is what happened, because I was there and spoke to him directly. His destination that day was Goroka, and he was under time pressure to catch a PX flight to Lae.

The tax slip is another thing this particular company never supplies. Good luck on getting legal in your own country by declaring money made in PNG. Where the 42% held off pay goes can be left to interpretation.Also, expect to get paid at whatever exchange rate they feel like that particular pay date ( that is if you gonna get paid on time). I know of pilots that got paid at the same exchange rate till they caught up with the scam after losing money. The "equivalent in Australian dollars" means you buy Kina at the bank rate not at the official exchange rate.You pay the exchange not the company so if you gonna transfer to NZ you lose twice.

Pacific, Hevilift, Heli Niugini, Islands....they all gave me a tax slip when it was due to be given. There is another company I did some rig shift work for (who I won't mention by name), and they were shonky as anything I have seen anywhere. Certainly no tax slip from them.

Regarding getting legal in your own country, the pay advice slip should be sufficient evidence of the taxes paid. However, if working under the radar on a tourist visa and taxes have been deducted from pay, there is no way that money is going to end up where it should.

I worked for this company for 2 years and in my time the Engineering Manager was diligent and responsible in his work. He was one of the best engineers I have worked with in my 40 plus years in helicopter maintenance overseas from the UK. In that time no parts were fitted without proof of serviceability and fit for purpose. Onto pay and tax, yes a problem. I have 82 E mails on hard drive chasing up pay due to me. Tax, whoever wrote that is right. I paid tax from my billings but received no yearly proof of payment.

Good find,eyesight.The article is about marine crews working for the mother company. Crew houses flooded at every rain storm and offices infested with rats are what aircrew hat to put up with. Lack of respect for the profession and for anybody on payroll is the norm.

If you are still trying to work out the name of the company just go Totalloss Aviation and replace the Total with Mano😁
He is as shonky as they come even by PNG standards.

It was listed way back in post #7 ...

Anyone still trying to work out the name, without success, probably shouldn't be anywhere near a helicopter!

The employee is supposed to complete a Salary or Wages Declaration and give this to the employer before commencing employment. Ordinarily this should be something the company takes care of for all new-hire staff.

Sure bet that if this wasn't done the taxes deducted from salary were never remitted to IRC. Employees are entitled to lodge an Income Tax Return to claim a tax rebate if they incurred expenses in earning salary income over K200 per year. It sure would open a can of worms should somebody lodge an income tax return to IRC if there was no record of taxes being paid on behalf of that person by their employer.

For the benefit of anybody wishing to claim their tax rebate, download the form from the irc.gov.pg website and send it to the address given. A world of pain might descend on the employer should it be the case that the taxes deducted were not remitted.

LOOOOOOOOOL

Good point.

I knew Peter very well. He and I worked together throughout Malaysia, Indonesia, PNG and Tasmania.
It came as a shock hearing of the accident as I knew him to be a good operator.
The owner of this company was entirely different. When a Hughes 500 crashed during ops in which the pilot was killed, he told the pilot's wife that the insurance she thought her husband had, was for the aircraft, not the pilot and offered her a pittance. When the pilot joined the company, the chief pilot told him that the company provided insurance for him. No point in paying TWO policies, he thought, so he dropped his own.
She tried taking him to court and the media but it didn't work out.
My time in PNG was short fortunately, as my principles had me return to working in OZ.
Peter stayed on and was planning to retire to Queensland when he died.

Not sure if this company ever had 500's .Peter crashed in a 105 and the insurance story i've heard is similar. His wife never got his insurance even if it was implied at the time of hire that pilots are insured trough the company. Don't put your families trough this,people. Stay away .

Just to be clear, that story is attributable to a well known former Governor of Eastern Highlands Provence who owns a helicopter company based in Goroka. They've had several fatal and other prangs over many years operating in PNG. This company is different to the company to which this topic is about.

Hi alphadog.
How long were you at this company and for what reason did you leave?
Did you have to pay them much for your twin rating?
I see you say you were on for 7 days for 5 months, as a professional pilot would you just not say you were having a whole day off, due to F&D every 7th day or 2 days off every 14 days? Is the law the same for this as in NZ?

What law are you talking about again?

The locals wont get their machetes knives or guns out on a Friday so then you can have your day off as required by the regs. But please advise everyone you are going to have the day off well in advance so the phone doesn't ring telling you to fly and may require some IMC.

I've worked there too long and I quit for the obvious reasons enumerated all through this thread. If you read carefully few posts back you'll find out what happens to professional pilots that want to stay within the F&D legal requirements.

The work requirement and days off etc etc would all be spelled out in the employment agreement, no? Or doesn't this company have employment agreements? There would have to be an employment agreement as part of the work permit application process, unless the pilots are working under the radar on a tourist visa?
And there would be a fatigue management system as part of the ops spec, no?
Unless you're on equal time tours you can't work 7 days straight, or whatever the rule is. If I didn't fly on a particular day for whatever reason I'd write that down as a day off. In all my years in PNG I don't ever remember an instance of a helicopter not flying when there was a job to do because the pilot was on a day off. Even on bases where there was only one pilot and one helicopter.