BEFORE THE 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

::",~:-~-::~~;iT(~.~ j -~ ,-. -, ' > 

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY~ "Z ~·~~ - b 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

In the matter of the cancellation of the 

Air Taxi authority issued to: Docket DOT-OST-2012-0022 

VIH COUGAR HELICOPTERS, INC. 

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 6, 2012 

DSMDB-3076739v I 
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: Docket DOT -OST-2012-0022 

VIH COUGAR HELICOPTERS, INC. 

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 un-redacted VIH 

Cougar, Inc. Motion to Dismiss the Show Cause Proceeding, which includes confidential 

commercial and personal information that is exempt from public disclosure pursuant to the 

Freedom oflnformation Act, 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. Redacted versions of the Motion to Dismiss the Show Cause 

Proceeding were filed today with the Department ofTransportation Docketing Office for 

inclusion onto Docket No. DOT-OST-2012-0022. 

Exemption 4 ofFOIA 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 ofCustoms and Border, 643 F.3d 1189, 1194 (9th 

DSMDB-3076739vl 
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.3d 37,39 (D.C. Cir. 2008) 

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

Here, the un-redacted Motion to Dismiss the Show Cause Proceeding satisfies the 

requirements of FOIA Exemption 4 and, thus, is prohibited from public disclosure under the 

Trade Secrets Act. First, the document contains commercial information that relates to VIH 

Cougar's business deals, structure, and arrangements. It includes commercially-sensitive 

corporate information, as well as private personal information, that would not otherwise be made 

public, and there is no need for the public to have access to such information. This 

commercially-sensitive corporate information has only been provided to the Department to 

facilitate its determination regarding whether to dismiss the Show Cause proceedings. 

Second, the information provided to the Department has been obtained from a person or 

by the Government within the meaning required for Exemption 4, as the un-redacted Motion to 

Dismiss has been provided to the Department in a confidential manner by VIH Cougar, in 

accordance with Department rules and regulations. 

Third, the information at issue is confidential. The information is not generally known or 

publicly available, and it would not customarily be released to the public. Further, its release is 

likely to result in substantial competitive harm to VIH Cougar, given the highly-competitive 

industry within which VIH Cougar operates and the fact that the company is in actual 

competition '.vith numerous competitors \Vho !ike!)' \vi!! use the information to gain a competitive 

2 

DSMDB-3076739v I 
advantage over VIH Cougar or to disparage or undermine VIH Cougar with respect to cun·ent 

and prospective business opportunities. 

For the foregoing reasons, the Department should grant VIH Cougar's motion and refrain 

from disclosing the on-redacted VIH Cougar, Inc. Motion to Dismiss the Show Cause 

Proceeding. 

Dated: July 6, 2012 Respectfully submitted, 

By: b~ l'Y).[\~)A6£ 

3 

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 VJH Cougar Helicopters, Inc. 

DSMDB-3076739v I 
EXHIBIT A 

INDEX OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION 

AND DOCUMENTS TO BE WITHHELD FROM THE PUBLIC: 

CONFIDENTIAL ITEM # TITLE/DESCRIPTION 

1. Un-redacted VIH Cougar Motion to Dismiss the Show Cause 

Proceeding 

4 

DSMDB-3076739v I 
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

I certify that I have on this 6th day of July 2012 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 A venue, SE 

Room W96-495 

Washington, DC 20.590 

Jonathan Blank 

John Longstreth 

Timothy Hobbs 

K&L Gates LLP 

160 I K Street NW 

Washington, DC 2 0006-1600 

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, W A 98057 

Andrew E. Smith 

5 

DSMDB-3076739vl