State Says It Makes It Easier To Locate Offshore Workers Should A Helo Go Down

Two aviation companies which transport workers to and from offshore oil rigs say a new Louisiana law requiring personal ELTs for passengers is intrusive, and attempts to supersede FARs.

Bristow and PHI have filed a federal lawsuit against the law, which was passed in response to an incident in which an offshore worker was missing for four days after the helicopter he was aboard went down. The worker did not survive the accident.

The state representative who sponsored the law said personal emergency locators would have shortened the search process, and was requested by the workers' family and others. It was passed in the last session of the legislature and goes into effect in January.

The Baton Rouge, LA newspaper The Advocate reports that PHI and Bristow hold in their lawsuit that the state is encroaching on federal aviation regulations, and that any new regulations should be developed within that process. PHI Chief Administrative Officer Richard Rovinelli told the paper that while the company recognizes that the state "was trying to do the right thing," safety regulations for aircraft are the purview of the FAA.

FMI: www.legis.state.la.us