U.S. Department of 

Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

Mr. Jonathan Blank 

K&L Gates LLP 

1601 K Street, NW 

Washington, DC 20006 

Dear Mr. Blank: 

Assistant Secretary 

March 19, 2012 

Thank you for your letter concerning the U.S. Department of Transportation's (Department) 

citizenship investigation ofVIH Cougar Helicopters, Inc. (VIH Cougar). 

On March 12,2012, the Department issued Order 2012-3-7 tentatively finding that VIH Cougar 

is not a U.S. citizen as defined in 49 U.S.C. § 40102(a)(15) and proposing to cancel its air taxi 

authority. Interested parties are provided 21 days from the date of its issuance to file objections 

to the Department's tentative findings. Access to the docket is available by entering the docket 

number, DOT-OST-2012-0022, into the simple search function at the Department's Docket 

Management System (DMS) website, which is http://www.regulations.gov. 

Finally, since this matter is pending, I am unable to comment on the merits ofVIH Cougar's 

submissions. I assure you, however, that the Department will give full consideration to all 

comments on the record in the docket. 

As is our normal practice, I am placing a copy of your letter and this response in Docket 

DOT-OST-2012-0022 as a contact outside the record of this matter. I appreciate your interest in 

this proceeding. 

Sincerely yours, 

Susan L. Kurland 

Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
~;"~ -·~""-,.;. 

K&LIGATES K&l Gates nP 

1601 K Street NW 

Washington. DC 20006·1600 

March 2, 2012 

Ms. Susan Kurland 

Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Aviation 

and International Affairs 

United States Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. 

Washington, DC 20590 

re: Vlli Cougar Helicopters, Inc 

Dear Secretary Kurland, 

r 202.778.9000 www.klgates.com 

Jonathan Blank 

D 202.661.6250 

jonathan.blank@klgates.com 

I am writing on behalf of Petroleum Helicopters, Inc (PHI). Additionally, the Alaska Air 

Carriers Association and Maritime Helicopters, headquartered in Homer, Alaska, concur with the 

sentiments expressed in this letter. (Copies of their letters are attached.). 

On October 6, 2011, you wrote to counsel for VIH Cougar Helicopters, Inc, (VIH Cougar) 

concerning their status as a part 298 Air Taxi Operator. In that letter you cited "overwhelming 

evidence" that Vlli Cougar is not in compliance with the requirements of the Federal Aviation 

Act that certificated airline operators be citizens of the United States. 

As PHI has long maintained, you have concluded that although VIH Cougar theoretically 

complies with the numerical ownership requirements of the statute, it is not under the actual 

control of citizens of the United States. You note four reasons, including the agency relationship 

of Mr. Steeper by Mr. Nourie, the provision of technical and operational services and equipment 

by the VIH Group to VIH Cougar, contractual relationships among the VIH Group and VIH 

Cougar, and, tellingly, information discrepancies provided to the Department. Additionally, VIH 

Cougar officials have made public statements revealing that company's Canadian ties. Each one 

of these alone would be grounds for a finding on non-compliance, but together they show a 

premeditated and willful lack of compliance disposition as well as non-citizenship. 

During the entire period of this investigation, VIH Cougar has been competing unfairly with PHI 

and other U.S. citizen operators in the Gulf of Mexico offshore trade. VIH Cougar has been the 

beneficiary of its illegal relationship with the VIH Group at the expense of these U.S. companies. 

Since October 6, 2011, it has continued to do business without any apparent change. If anything, 

it is now incentivized to seek additional market share as part of whatever restructuring it may 

offer to the Department. 

X1-120314-003 
K&LIGATES 

Ms. Susan Kurland 

March 2, 2012 

Page2 

While PHI appreciates the Department's very thorough review of the allegations against VIH 

Cougar, we believe that the time has come to stop VIH Cougar's lengthy history of flaunting the 

citizenship requirements and competing unfairly against U.S. citizen operators. As the VIH 

Group remains in control of VIH Cougar almost three months after the 30-day deadline for 

compliance included in your October 6, 2011letter, we respectfully request that immediate 

action be taken to bring an end to this illegal situation. 

We urge the Department to move quickly and openly to end this situation, which has gone on for 

several years. VIH Cougar should not be allowed to continue to engage in unlawful competition 

that disadvantages U.S. citizen operators as it delays compliance with U.S. law to maximize its 

ill-gotten gains. VIH Cougar should not be allowed to continue to operate in the United States 

unless it has met the requirements of the Federal Aviation Act that certificated airline operators 

be citizens of the United States. 

The Department's recent Notice of Proposed Policy Clarification for the Registration of Aircraft 

to U.S. Citizen Trustees in Situations Involving Non-U.S. Citizen Trusters and Beneficiaries, 

Federal Register Feb 9, 2012 indicates the serious concern the Department is showing with 

regard to assuring close regulatory oversight of U.S. registered aircraft and operations. 

Likewise, in this matter, the operator has persistently evaded statutory requirements for actual 

citizen control. Just as the Department is taking action to assure that regulatory oversight on 

leased U.S. registered aircraft is not avoided through complex ownership instruments, the 

Department should move to quickly close down VIH Cougar's evasion of the statute. 

Finally, PHI strongly believes that there is no public policy that can be served any longer by 

shielding VIH Cougar's citizenship status from the public. Having made the preliminary 

findings based on "overwhelming evidence," we respectfully request that the Department bring 

transparency to any further proceedings in this matter. The Departmenfs informal proceedings 

may have public policy benefits in enabling operators to arrange their citizenship affairs 

privately when they are seeking to comply with the law, but that does not apply in this case. 

Here, VIH Cougar circumvented the law in a calculated manner and did not merely seek to 

ascertain the limits of the citizenship requirements. Instead, it established, and long operated 

under, an egregious scheme which violated the citizenship requirements and engaged in 

deception to do so. PHI and other U.S. citizens are entitled to transparency and open 

government in matters of regulatory compliance. Any efforts by the Department to ensure that 

VIH Cougar divests and restmctures should be open, transparent and public. 

VerytJ;uly yours, . . / ./~,,/ 4£,,.·"' 

~fc:~~-{~P~ -- ~ .. 

,., ·' Jonathan Blanl< ,.. Counsel for PHI 

X1-1203·14-003