BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, DC

In the matter of the cancellation of the Air Taxi authority issued to:

VIH COUGAR HELICOP TERS, INC. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Docket DOT-OST-2012-0022

VIH Cougar Helicopters, Inc.

Violations of 14 CFR Part 298 and 49 U.S.C. § 41101 ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Docket DOT-OST-2013-0004

REPLY OF PETROLEUM HELICOPTERS, INC., NORTHERN PIONEER HELICOPTERS LLC, AND SOLOY HELICOPTERS LLC IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR CLARIFICATION OF ORDER 2013-11-16

Communications with respect to th is document should be sent to:

John Longstreth john.longstr eth@klgates.com 202-661-6271 Timothy Hobbs tim.hobbs@klgates.com 206-370-7664

K&L Gates LLP 1601 K Street NW Washington, DC 20006-1600 202-778-9100 (fax)BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, DC

In the matter of the cancellation of the Air Taxi authority issued to:

VIH COUGAR HELICOPTERS, INC. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Docket DOT-OST-2012-0022

VIH Cougar Helicopters, Inc.

Violations of 14 CFR Part 298 and 49 U.S.C. § 41101 ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Docket DOT-OST-2013-0004

REPLY OF PETROLEUM HELICOPTERS, INC., NORTHERN PIONEER HELICOPTERS LLC, AND SOLOY HELICOPTERS LLC IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR CLARIFICATION OF ORDER 2013-11-16

Petroleum Helicopters, Inc. (“PHI”), Northe rn Pioneer Helicopters LLC (“Northern”),

and Soloy Helicopters LLC (“Soloy”) have moved the Department to clarify that its Order 2013-

11-16 does not preclude the De partment from either:

(a) investigating the ongoing operations under which contract s previously serviced by

VIH Cougar Helicopters, Inc. (“VIH Cougar”), wh ich was found in the Order to have violated

the law for a substantial period of time and orde red to pay a $300,000 fine, have been transferred

from VIH Cougar to Construction Helicopters , Inc. (“CHI”), whos e owner and President

previously purported to be the in direct owner of VIH Cougar; or(b) seeking a penalty directly against Mr. Kenneth Norie, who with his companies was

found to have illegally controlled VIH Cougar.

VIH Cougar’s response to the Motion does not attempt to assert, much less demonstrate,

that Order 2013-11-16 precludes the Department from doing either of these things. That

response thus offers no basis on which to deny th e Motion. The Department should confirm that

the Order does not preclude either investigation into the ongoing operations, or imposition of a

penalty directly on Mr. Norie, as PHI, Northern, and Soloy understand the Order and as VIH

Cougar’s Opposition does not contest.

Rather than deal directly w ith the issue presented in th e Motion, VIH Cougar embarks on

a series of misstatements and non sequiters that are easily dismissed. VIH Cougar first suggests

that the Motion for Clarification is an attack on the settlement, but it is not. It is merely a request

for a clarification to confirm its terms. An d since VIH Cougar does no t advance any contrary

reading of those terms, that confirmation can be easily provided.

VIH Cougar also makes the odd assertion that the Motion is some how precluded because

PHI, Northern and Soloy did not object to VIH Cougar’s withdrawal of its appeal of Order 2013-

6-8. Withdrawal of that appe al kept in place an order that PHI, Northern and Soloy fully

supported, establishing that VIH Cougar was in violation of the law. VIH Cougar does not

explain how PHI, Northern and Soloy could noneth eless have required that its appeal of Order

2013-6-8 be continued, 1 or why continuation of that app eal should be a prerequisite to

clarification of Order 2013-11-16, which wa s never any part of the appeal.

Finally, VIH repeats its tired rhetoric suggesti ng that PHI, Northern and Soloy’s interest

in enforcement of the law should be discounted because they are competitors of VIH Cougar.

1 Applicable precedent provides that intervenors ar e not permitted to raise issues not presented by the parties. See, e.g,, Ill. Bell Tel. Co. v. FCC , 911 F.2d 776, 786 (D.C. Cir. 1990) (“An intervening party may join issue only on a matter that has been brought before the court by another party.”)This assertion is simply wrong, as is clear from case law that has been frequently been brought to

VIH Cougar’s attention providing th at parties are fully empowered to seek relief from unlawful

competition such as that DOT has found was present here. See, e.g., Louisiana Energy & Power

Auth. v. FERC , 141 F.3d 364, 367 (D.C. Cir. 1998) (“partie s suffer constitutional injury in fact

when agencies lift regulatory restrictions on their competitors or otherwise allow increased

competition.”). PHI, Northern and Soloy are the very parties whom the laws at issue here are

intended to protect, and have every right to se ek investigation into, and cessation of, illegal

operations that harm them. Nor does VIH Cougar offer a shred of support for its assertion that

enforcement of the laws would create some ki nd of monopoly, even assuming that was a relevant

consideration whic h it is not.

PHI, Northern and Soloy therefore respectfull y request that the Motion for Clarification

be granted.

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ John Longstreth____ Dated: December 19, 2013 John Longstreth Timothy Hobbs K&L Gates LLP 1601 K Street NW Washington, DC 20016

Counsel for Petroleum Helicopters, Inc., Northern Pioneer Helicopters LLC, and Soloy Helicopters LLCCERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I certify that I have on this 19th day of December 2013 served the foregoing Reply of Petroleum Helicopters, Inc., Northern Pioneer Helicopters LLC, and Soloy Helicopters LLC in Support of Motion for Clarification of Order 2013- 11-16 upon the persons listed below, and have also filed a copy in the dockets of these proceedings:

Susan L. Kurland Office of the Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Room W96-495 Washington, DC 20590

Lauralyn Remo Office of the Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Room W96-495 Washington, DC 20590

Peter Lynch, AGC-300 Asst. Chief Counsel for Enforcement Federal Aviation Administration 800 Independence Ave. SW Washington, DC 20591

William J. Weber Certification Section Manager FAA AFS-900 45005 Aviation Drive Suite 131 Dulles, VA 20166

Roy Hardie Aviation Safety Inspector Federal Aviation Administration 1601 Lind Avenue SW, Suite 260 Renton, WA 98057David M. Nadler David Y. Yang Andrew E. Smith DICKSTEIN SHAPIRO LLP 1825 Eye Street, NW Washington, DC 20006 Telephone: (202) 420-2200 Facsimile: (202) 420-2201 nadlerd@dicksteinshapiro.com yangd@dicksteinshapiro.com smitha@dicksteinshapiro.com

Counsel to VIH Cougar Helicopters, Inc.

_/s/ J. Timothy Hobbs___________________ J. Timothy Hobbs