Safety

With over 60 years of experience the VIH Aviation Group includes a select group of complementary companies employing approximately 400 personnel that provide a full range of fixed wing and helicopter aviation services globally. There is no replacement for 6 decades of experience that includes a successful corporate infrastructure, mature Safety Management System (SMS) and a proactive safety culture that provides the backbone for safe operations. Cougar Helicopters, one of our divisions, is a past recipient of the prestigious “Excellence in SAR Innovation” award by the National Search and Rescue Secretariat.

The safety and security of our passengers is our top priority. Our industry is highly regulated and safety is at the core of regulation. At VIH Execujet we adhere to the most rigorous safety standards in the industry. We do things by the book, and we do not compromise on safety or regulatory compliance. All VIH Execujet IFR flights are operated by two Transport Canada certified pilots. Our Captains average over 8,000 hours each, and are among the most experienced in the industry. Our flights are operated in accordance with Transport Canada’s Canadian Air Regulations (CAR’s), and our jet pilots are trained bi-annually in state-of-the art simulators at FlightSafety International. Everything from minor and major system malfunctions, on-board fires, cabin decompression and emergency landing procedures are trained, practiced, and checked in the simulators, replicating actual emergency scenarios. Even our flight attendants have senior level experience. Many of our clients share that we provide the “best level of flight and safety service among our aviation peers”. We never take that for granted and are always striving for continual improvement.

As part of Transport Canada’s regulatory framework our operations are periodically audited. In 2017 we completed two successful external audits one conducted by Transport Canada and a second commissioned by one of our clients. We welcomed the 3rd party audit conducted by a reputable aviation safety consultant as this was another opportunity for feedback on our SMS in order to continuously improve. We are proud to share a copy our 2017 3rd party safety audit.

Although not registered with Argus or Wyvern VIH Execujet has a proactive safety culture and formal Safety Management System with meticulous attention to aircraft maintenance and ongoing crew training. As Aviation International News has recently reported (February 14, 2017) “NTSB Accident Report Highlights Charter Ops Audit Questions”. They highlight a company that had a “lack of a formal safety program” but yet had the “Illusion of Safety” with a Wyvern registration and Argus Gold rating. Further investigation revealed that despite having these ‘seals of approval’ the company “was not audited by either Argus or Wyvern”. This article captures an example of the unfortunate practice of creating a façade of safety. Our position is that rather than invest in a marketing ‘seal of approval’ we invest directly in our pilot training, proactive safety culture and our Safety Management System. Click to see the attached Aviation International News article.