Logging from the sky

Erickson Air-Crane was founded in December 1971 by Jack Erickson at Central Point, in southern Oregon, to use heavy-lift helicopters for the jobs that roads could not reach. Its signature tool became the Sikorsky S-64, a gaunt, skeletal crane of a helicopter built to carry loads slung beneath it. Erickson was so committed to the type that in 1992 it did something few operators ever do: it bought the S-64 type certificate and manufacturing rights from Sikorsky.

Owning the Skycrane

Owning the design let Erickson rework it into the Aircrane. The company has made more than 1,350 improvements to the airframe, instruments and payload systems, and became the world’s largest S-64 operator, with a fleet of around 20. Fitted with a snorkel and tank, the Aircrane became a familiar sight dropping water on wildfires. Erickson moved its headquarters to Portland in 2009, was bought by the ZM Private Equity Fund in 2007, and floated on NASDAQ on 11 April 2012, with ZM keeping 63 percent.

Debt, bankruptcy and survival

Growth nearly sank it. In March 2013 Erickson paid 250 million dollars for the helicopter business of Evergreen International Aviation, and renamed itself Erickson Inc. in February 2014. The debt, combined with hard markets, pushed it into Chapter 11 in November 2016; it emerged as a private company in May 2017, and Doug Kitani became chief executive that August. In 2021 it bought the Bell 214B and 214ST type certificates, then sold them, with its 214ST fleet, to McDermott Aviation in 2023.

Fábricas

• Central Point base · Central Point, Oregon — Original base, 1971

Pessoas

• Jack Erickson · founder — Founded the company in 1971
• Doug Kitani · chief executive — Appointed 31 August 2017