u.s. Department 

of Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

Mr. Alfred F. Bowen, III 

Evergreen Helicopters, Inc. 

3850 Three Mile Lane 

· McMinnville, OR 97128-9496 

Dear Mr. Bowen: 

Assistant Secretary 

May 10, 2012 

-8 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

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, t;JJ.e 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 were afforded the opportunity to file objections to the Department's 

tentative findings. Currently, the Department is reviewing the objections filed and other 

responsive pleadings submitted on the record in th~ docket. 

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 consideratipn to all 

comments on the record in the docket. Access to the docket is· available by enteril)g 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. . 

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 
Ms. SusJtn Kttrbmd 

A"Ssistant Seere~ary of 1'rawpottatiom futAviation & lrltei"hatrooal Affairs, 

Onitea States Department of'Transpottatio~ 

lZOO New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, DC '20590 

Via email to: s;usan.kudand@dot.ggv:; s!l§afl.lkudand@gm.~v;, faac®rlgtggv 

SUBJECTl VJ;H CQngar H~licf.Jpters,tn~ •. / For~lan Q~ratf)t$, Competing, with Ameri~• 

Deat Seeretacy K.ntland: 

Petroleum Helicopters, Inc (ffn) chatlen~ the operations of VlR ·CQugar Helicopters:f 

Inc. (VlHCol1gar) ill the United States (Ahtska, the• West Coast, Jtnd tbe Oulf uf Mexico). As a 

certificated air, carrier I concur with the senti~ts expressed in thiS' letter. 

ln your October 6, 2011 letter ttl' counsel for VlH Om.tgat ~lkopters~ Inc, (VI;H 

Cougar} Cioneerning their statu,~·.,. Pl\,rt ~~ Air T~l Oper~tor you ~ited u~erwbellnitt3 

~idenee'' fQ,t Vl'H;Oougar is not in (Omplktn£e with thereqJli"rnents of·tbe Fedentl 

Aviation Act that certificated airline operatf.Jts be dtizens ot .the United States;. 

US air carriers have longmamtained and 'you finally conctude:a·that although V:nt 

Cougar llteoretically complies with the numerical own~.Shlp requirements of the. litatute, it is not 

under tbe: act\lal ~Qtrol of citi.z61lS ofthe 0J1ited States:. You note four reas.onsA.ncluding: 

• the aBettcy relationship of Mr. Steeper by Mt. Nourle; 

• the provision of tecfu:lical and operatiortal.services and equil)ment by the VIH Group to 

Vlli Cougar, 

• contractual relationships am<mg the VtaG.roup and VIM Cou&ar:. ~a 

• tefli11gly,. infortnlition discrepancies providea ta the Department. 

Additiomdly, VJH Couga~ officials havemadepubll<;:state:ments revea:ling.that oompanyr.s 

Canadian ties, Each one of tJlese.alone would be ground$ f9r 11 findin,g, on non~compli~9e:. but 

.wgetber thl!Y show a premeditated. and willful lack of Cl.ltnp:l1Mce dispositiun as we1l:as .non.,. 

eitizenship. · 

During fhe entire period. of this mvest:igatiop VJH Cougar has continuea to compete 

uufaitly wi~h 0,$ certific'B.(ed operatQrs. VIH CQn~ bas been the htrnet\cia,ry ofitsdlle:gal 

relationship with the VU:I Group at tb:e eX:pense ()f U.S •. eompAAies .•. Since Octobet:ti. 2011; VIH 

has oontln.uea· to. do busines:s without ~1 apparent change;. If anything, it is n:ow itrcentlvi~ea to 

seek additional market smare as part of wlratever reStrl1cturing tt .may offer to the :Department 

While us certificated operators appreciates the r>epatttrtent's very thorough revi:ew of the 

allegations against VtH Cougar. we believe tbat the time.has come to stbp VIH Cougar~s. ~d 

odr~ fereign entities; lengthy. histOry of flaunting the citizenship requirements and cempeting 

unfairly against U.s. citizer~ operators. As ,the VIH Group ~~main~ in control of VIH Couga:r 

)( ·1-120507 -002 
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ww!,l.(~eY~tt~naviau~w.~ 

almost tbree tn'Qnths atter tlte 30-day deadline for compliaqce ineluded:.in your October.()~ 

lOU l.etter1 we r~pectrully reque$t that. immediate action be tak.en to bring an end to this 

illegal situatiolt. 

We urge the nepartment to move quiek:ly and OP'111Y to end tllis sf~atlon, which 

has .. ne on for several years. VI:Q ·cougar $houJd not be allowed to continue to eqgllp in 

untawful. competition that disadvaatag• U.S. citizen operatc>rs ·~ it delays complia.tJte• With 

U.S .. brw• to maximize its in-got'ten gains~ vm Cougar should notb¢ alloW¢d to. tQJ1tinue 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•$ recentNotic~ ofProposed ;~li~y Clarlficatlon fQr: the 

Registration ot Mrcratt to U.S~ Citizen Trustees in Situations lnvolvingNon·U~S. CitiUn 

Grautors. and Betu~ficiaries, Federal RegiSter Feb 9. 2012: indicates the serious oon.tern the 

Department IS showing with regm-d to assuring close regulatory overs.ight of U.S. registered 

aircraft and operati()n:S'. 

Likewise, i:n this. matter, the operator bas persistently ~waded statt,ttory requireroellts f0r 

actual citi~en control. Just as the J;kpartment Is taking «etion to. assure that regulatory 

oversight·on lease.d US re-gistered aireraft is not avoided through. complex ownership 

instruments, the Depar.tment should. move to quk:ldy close down: VlH Cougar~s etasfon.ofo 

the statute. 

We believe that there is no public polit;cy that can be. sert.ed any longer by shieldtt:tg VIH 

Cougat's citizenship status from the ,public. Having made the preUmip.at'y fil)dln~s :based on 

''overwhelming evidence," we respectfully r~uest that the Depart111eat brfng tn.~parency 

to any fqrtlu~r proceedings in this matter. The Department's infonnal p!'oceedings may .haY¢ 

public policy b~n<efits. in enabiins o~r.a,tol's to arrange ·tb~ir citizenship .affab privately when th~y IU'e $eeking t~ eot:nply with the law, Out that dues not apply in this cas.e, Here., VtH ·cougar 

cira.umvented the law in a calculated m.anner and did not merely see:k to ascertain the limits .of 

the citizenship requirements. Instead. it established, and long· operated unde!', $ri egregl!:JUS 

scheme which violated the citizenship requirements and engaged in deception to do so:. 

·~ U$. dtb:eas, we are entitled tQ transparency and ·open goverument in matter$ of 

regulato.ry compliance. Any efforts by. the .Department to e.nsore that VIH Cougar diV,ests 

and. resttuc'tU:res sht.uld be o.pen~ trausparentand public. 

V~r!f truly Yours, 

... 

,_;!~;;;;~ ·.·· .. ~ . 

Alfred F. Bowett, tJ!l 

Getteral C<>unsel & Corporate Secretary 
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""' ~·($1)3)'1,7.~~<>~1~ .f!U't~)47l>1'04,8' 

.· . . . . . . www.ove~viaWD.¢0111 

Cc: Ray LaHO<>d. Secretary of Transportation via email to robert.Ietteney®d9t.ggv 

R:epresent~tive Don. Young, via email to scott.legtlun;:d@Jl1,3:ilhous,.gpv · 

Sen~tor :usa·Murkowski:, via email to wanfn.wti:ght@:tnwk,owski~&!Wltt,ggv 

Senator Mark Begich. via em.ail to j,amgs felim®!-i>'l.,eg1ebdierutt~;ggv 

0QvernorSean Parnell. Vla email tot;.uldi]trnaro®alasl9J,.gpv; mss.keHy®aJaska;gov 

)( 1-120507-002