Tom Brooks Is Base Manager Of Canadian Helicopters Ltd.

HAI recently announced the 2009 Pilot of the Year Award recipient, Tom Brooks; Base Manager, Canadian Helicopters Ltd. (CHL), Smithers, British Columbia, Canada.

Brooks has been flying helicopters for more than 30 years, during which time he has amassed over 23,500 flying hours. He began his initial flight training in 1975 with Agro-Copters, an Alberta-based company formed by his father Bill Brooks, where he was involved in pipeline construction, mineral exploration, animal inventory count, seeding, and spraying.. In 1976, he gained his commercial rotary wing license, initially endorsed on the Bell 47 and Hiller 12 E type aircraft.

Brooks has been working for CHL since 1984. In 1988 he became Base Manager and flight instructor in CHL's flight school, where he took twenty 100-hour pilots through a rigorous series of exercises, including a full mountain course, and prepared them for operations in Western Canada. In spite of its rugged terrain and harsh weather, the Smithers base is often chosen by CHL as a place to assign entry level pilots. Brooks always finds time to mentor “low time pilots,” and has helped numerous "low timers" graduate to the rank of "Experienced Pilot."

Brooks is an accomplished long line pilot, an expert in the use of the drip torch, and an authority on aerial cone collection – the challenging technique of hovering at tree top level to collect cones for reforestation. He was one of the first pilots in Western Canada to use the "net capture gun" to capture mountain caribou for tagging and collaring. Brooks is a recipient of the HAI Pilot Safety Award for achieving 20,000 consecutive accident and violation-free flight hours, and CHL has not experienced a pilot at fault accident in North Western British Columbia since Brooks became Base Manager.

Whether it is in search and rescue, moving a diamond drill on the side of a steep mountain, power line repair, or fighting a forest fire in an old growth forest, Brooks can be relied on to do the job right. His exceptional ability and good judgment, provision of outstanding service to others, and high standards of safety embodies the skills that the Pilot of the Year Award was designed to recognize.

All winners will be recognized at Heli-Expo 2009's annual "Salute to Excellence" Awards Banquet on February 23, 2009 at 8:00 pm in Anaheim, CA.

FMI: www.heliexpo.com