U.S. Department 

of Transportation 

Office of the Secretory 

of Transportation 

Mr. Stephen J. Kapper 

Security A vi at ion 

6121 South Airpark Place 

Anchorage, Alaska 99502 

Dear Mr. Kapper: 

Assistant Secretary 

-_ -·' --

• 1 

~!arch 19, 2012 

1200 New Jersey A"Wenue. SE 

'.'/ashmgton. DC 20590 

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

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

On March 12, 2012, the Department issued Order 2012-3-7 tentatively tinding that YIH Cougar 

is not a U.S. citizen as defined in 49 U.S.C. § 401 02(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 lindings. 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 (OMS) \Vebsite, which is http://w\vw.regulations.gov. 

Finally, since this matter is pending, I am unable to comment on the merits of YIH 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 nonnal practice. I am placing a copy of your letter and this response in Docket 

DOT -OST-20 12-0022 as a contact outside the record of this matter. I appreciate your interest in 

this proceeding. 

~ X1-120315-002 

Susan L. Kurland 

Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
SECURITY~'AVIATION 

6121 South Airpark Place • Anchorage, Alaska 99502 • (907) 248-26n • Fax (907) 248-6911 

www.securityaviatlon.biz email: accountlng@securityaviation.biz 

Ms. Susan Kurland 

Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Aviation & International Affairs 

United States Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

Via email to susan.kurland@dot.gov; susan.l,kurland@dot.gov; faac@dot.gov 

SUBJECI': VIH Cougar Helicopters, Inc. I Foreign Operators Competing with Americans 

Dear Secretary Kurland: 

Petroleum Helicopters, Inc (PHI) challenged the operations ofVIH Cougar Helicopters, Inc. (VIH 

Cougar) in the United States (Alaska, the West Coast, and the Gulf of Mexico). As a certificated air 

carrier I concur with the sentiments expressed in this letter. 

In your October 6, 2011 letter to counsel for Vlli Cougar Helicopters, Inc, (VIH Cougar) 

concerning their status as a Part 298 Air Taxi Operator you cited "overwhelming evidence" 

that VIII Cougar is not in compliance with the requirements of the Federal Aviation Act that 

certificated airline operators be citizens of the United States. 

{JS air carriers have long maintained and you finally 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 Vlli 

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 noncitizenship. 

During the entire period of this investigation VIH Cougar has continued to compete unfairly with 

U.S certificated operators. Vlli Cougar has been the beneficiary ofits illegal relationship with the 

VIH Group at the expense of U.S. companies. Since October 6, 2011, VIH 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. 

While US certificated operators 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, and other 

foreign entities, lengthy history of flaunting the citizenship requirements and competing unfairly 

against U.S. citizen operators. As the VIH Group remams in control of Vlli Cougar almost 

X1-120315·002 
three months after the 30-day deadline for compliance included in your October 6, 2011 letter, 

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. vm 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 Truston 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 US registered aircraft is not avoided through complex ownership instruments, the 

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

We believe 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 Department's 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. 

As U.S. citizens, we are entitled to transparency and open government in matters of 

regulatory compliance. Any efforts by the Department to ensure that VIH Cougar divests and 

· restructures should be open, transparent and pubUc. 

;~ly,·~~ 

. Stepj Kapper 

President/CEO 

Security Aviation 

Cc:· Ray LaHoo~ Secretary of Transportation via email to robert.letteney@dot.gov 

Representative Don Young, via email to scott.leathard@mail.house. gov 

Senator Lisa Murkowski, via email to warren.wright@murkowski.senate.gov 

Senator Mark Begich, via email to jam.es feldman@begich.senate.gov 

Governor Sean Parnell, via email to randall.ruaro@alaska.gov; russ.kelly@alaska.gov 

X1.120315-002 

SECURITY AVIATION 

6121 South Airpark Place 

Anchorage, Alaska 99502 

(907) 248-2677 I Alaska Only (800) 478-7880 I FAX (907) 248-6911