BEFORE THE 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

In the matter of the cancellation of the 

Air Taxi authority issued to: 

VIH COUGAR HELICOPTERS, INC. 

Docket DOT -OST -2012-0022 

MOTION OF VIH COUGAR HELICOPTERS, INC. 

TO WITHHOLD INFORMATION FROM PUBLIC DISCLOSURE 

Communications with respect to this document should be sent to: 

David 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. 

Dated: July 2, 2013 
BEFORE THE 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

In the matter of the cancellation of the 

Air Taxi authority issued to: 

VIH COUGAR HELICOPTERS, INC. 

Docket DOT -OST -2012-0022 

MOTION OF VIH COUGAR HELICOPTERS, INC. 

TO WITHHOLD INFORMATION FROM PUBLIC DISCLOSURE 

Pursuant to Rule 12 of the Rules of Practice (14 C.F.R. § 302.12) for the Department of 

Transportation ("Department"), VIH Cougar Helicopters, Inc. ("VIH Cougar"), by and through 

the undersigned counsel, hereby moves to withhold from public disclosure the documents set 

forth in Exhibit A (collectively, "the Documents"), which were provided to the Department in 

response to the Department's June 11,2013 Final Order in the above-captioned proceedings. 

I. BACKGROUND AND ARGUMENT 

The Documents contain confidential commercial and personal information that is exempt 

from public disclosure pursuant to Exemption 4 of the Freedom oflnformation Act ("FOIA"), 5 

U.S.C. § 552, the Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1905, and all other applicable statutory and 

regulatory prohibitions against the public disclosure of sensitive, non-public information. 

Exemption 4 of FOIA protects all matters that are "trade secrets and commercial or 

financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential." 5 U.S.C. 

§ 552(b)(4). To fall within the purview of Exemption 4, information must be: (1) commercial or 

financial in nature; (2) obtained from a person or by the Government; and (3) confidential or 

privileged. See e.g., Watkins v. US. Bureau of Customs and Border, 643 F.3d 1189, 1194 (9th 
Cir. 2011); see also, Public Citizen Health Research Group, 704 F.2d at 1290 (D.C. Cir. 1983). 

In addition, the Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1905, prohibits Government personnel from 

disclosing confidential information unless disclosure would be allowed under FOIA Exemption 

4. See Canadian Commercial Corp. v. Dept. of Air Force, 514 F.3d37, 39 (D.C. Cir. 2008) 

(citing CNA Fin. Corp. v. Donovan, 830 F.2d 1132, 1151 (D.C. Cir. 1987)). Notably, in seeking 

Exemption 4 protection, a person need not prove with certainty that it will suffer competitive 

harm by the release of its commercial or financial information. McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. 

United States, 375 F.3d 1182, 1187 (D.C. Cir. 2004) (sufficient to trigger Exemption 4 protection 

where person shows that it is likely that competitive harm would result); see also General Elec. 

Co. v. Dep 't of the Air Force, 648 F. Supp. 2d 95, 103-04 (D.D.C. 2009) (holding that a 

contractor is not required to show how exactly a competitor would use its information to gain a 

competitive advantage). 

Here, the Documents satisfy the Exemption 4 requirements. Specifically, the Documents 

contain confidential, commercial information regarding VIH Cougar and CHI's organization, 

operations, capabilities, strategic alliances, real estate, licenses, insurance policies, including the 

terms and conditions of those business arrangements. Accordingly, if the Documents were 

publicly disclosed, the information would allow competitors (such as Petroleum Helicopters, 

Inc.) insights into sensitive subjects such as the number and type of aircraft operated by the 

companies, the capabilities of those aircraft, the capabilities and services provided by the 

companies, the location of any bases and facilities, the names of the pilots who fly for the 

companies and the crews which service the aircraft, the vendors that support the companies and 

the types of services that they provide. All of this information would assist in determining where 

the companies operate and what they presently do, as well as in predicting the industries, sectors, 

2 
and/or geographic locations or markets in which they may be likely to expand. Thus, all of this 

information would be useful to competitors in pursuing current or identifying prospective 

business opportunities. 

Under these circumstances, the public disclosure of the Documents would give 

competitors access to commercially sensitive and valuable information that they would not 

otherwise have but for these proceedings - and the information inequality would likely place 

VIH Cougar and CHI at an unfair competitive disadvantage in relation to these competitors when 

pursuing the same or similar business opportunities or formulating and/or executing strategic 

alliances and similar pursuits. 

Moreover, the Documents also contain certain personal information related to employees. 

This sensitive, personal information is also confidential and its release would violate company 

policies for safeguarding the privacy interests of employees. 

Finally, because the impetus behind the Department's Rule 12 procedures is to ensure 

that a company's confidential commercial and personal information is protected to the maximum· 

practicable while also ensuring that the public has adequate access to the relevant facts, it is 

appropriate to consider whether disclosure of the Documents would be central to understanding 

the proceedings underlying this case, particularly since confidential information is involved. 

VIH Cougar contends that it is not. 

II. CONCLUSION 

For the foregoing reasons, the Department should grant VIH Cougar's motion and not 

disclose the documents set forth in the attached Exhibit A, which were provided to the 

Department in response to the Department's June 11, 2013 Final Order. 

3 
Dated: July 2, 2013 Respectfully submitted, 

By: 

David M. Nadief 

~ 

4 

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. 
EXHIBIT A 

INDEX OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION 

AND DOCUMENTS TO BE WITHHELD FROM THE PUBLIC: 

CONFIDENTIAL ITEM# TITLE/DESCRIPTION 

1. VIH Cougar Helicopters, Inc. And Construction Helicopters, 

Inc.'s Motion For Reconsideration And For A Hearing 

2. Exhibit A- The Factual Errors In Department of Transportation 

Final Order 2013-6-8 

3. Exhibit B - Deposition of Christopher G. Turner taken on 

Tuesday, April 9, 2013 

4. Exhibit C- Supoena Duces Tecum 

5. Declaration of Christopher G. Turner 

5 
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

I certify that I have on this 2nd day of July 2013 served the foregoing upon the persons 

listed below: 

·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 

Jonathan Blank 

John Longstreth 

Timothy Hobbs 

K&L Gates LLP 

1601 K Street NW 

Washington, DC 20006-1600 

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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 

FAAAFS-900 

45005 Aviation Drive Suite 131 

Dulles, VA 20166 

Roy Hardie 

Aviation Safety Inspector 

Federal Aviation Administration 

1601 Lind Avenue SW, Suite 260 

Renton, W A 98057