DTN News: Trinidad and Tobago Orders Four AW139 Helicopters

DTN News: Trinidad and Tobago Orders Four AW139 Helicopters *Source: DTN News / AgustaWestland

(NSI News Source Info) Reston, VA, - August 2, 2009: AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, is pleased to announce that the government of Trinidad and Tobago has signed a contract to purchase four AW139 medium twin turbine helicopters.

The AW139 is a conventional twin-engined transport helicopter with a 5-blade fully articulated main rotor and a 4-blade tail rotor and a retractable landing gear. The AW139 is powered by two Pratt & Whitney PT6C turboshaft engines. The helicopter is being marketed for use in a number of roles including Law Enforcement/Emergency Medical Service, Executive Transport, Search and Rescue, Maritime and Offshore Oil Operations.

Trinidad and Tobago's Air Guard (TTAG) will establish a dedicated unit to use these helicopters for search and rescue, surface surveillance, law enforcement, drug interdiction and disaster relief operations.

The contract also includes an extensive training and logistical support service for the first five years. The contract, comprising the aircraft and support package, is valued at US$348 million.

A consortium involving AgustaWestland, Bristow Caribbean, FB Heliservices of UK and Helidex of USA will be established to manage the AW139 programme in Trinidad and Tobago with training services to be supplied in Italy, the UK and the USA.

Operations will primarily take place from Piarco International Airport and from offshore patrol vessels, working in conjunction with the Coast Guard. This order marks the establishment of the first Search and Rescue helicopter unit in the country. Giuseppe Orsi, Chief Executive Officer, AgustaWestland said “We are delighted that the Trinidad and Tobago has selected the AW139 to meet its search and rescue and homeland security requirements. This purchase demonstrates the continued success of the AW139 platform worldwide and in the Central America and Caribbean markets where we see good business opportunities in the future”.

The TTAG joins a number of AW139 operators worldwide including the Spanish Marine Safety Agency, the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the Italian Coast Guard, the Japanese Coast Guard, the Korean Coast Guard and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency in selecting the AW139 for their SAR missions.

The AW139 is the best selling medium twin-engine helicopter in the world. To date, almost 440 orders for this helicopter have been placed by nearly 120 customers in more than 40 countries for a wide variety of applications including EMS/SAR, law enforcement, offshore transport, VIP/corporate transport, fire fighting, utility and other commercial and government roles. The state-of-the-art AW139 is designed with inherent multi-role capability and flexibility of operation. It offers unmatched performance and safety levels as well as the largest cabin in its class. Large sliding doors enable quick and easy access for fast rope activities.

With a maximum cruise speed of 165 kts (306 km/h), a maximum range of 573 nm (1061 km) and over 5 hours endurance, the AW139 helicopter offers best-in-class mission capability. Cutting-edge mission-dedicated technology and equipment and outstanding performance features enable the AW139 to accomplish the most demanding operations in the harshest weather and environmental conditions

Castro: Americans Summit To Keep 'Excluding' Cuba

Castro: Americans Summit To Keep 'Excluding' Cuba

*Fidel Castro has called on Latin American countries to support an end to Cuba's isolation when they meet the US president at a regional summit.

(NSI News Source Info) HAVANA - April 6, 2009: A summit of leaders from across the Americas won't start for almost two weeks. But Fidel Castro is already complaining about its closing statement. In an article published Sunday by official news media, the former Cuban leader said that visiting Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega had showed him a draft of the agreement the summit leaders are supposed to approve at the end of the April 17-19 summit in Trinidad and Tobago. It "contains a great number of inadmissible concepts," Castro wrote. Cuba's President Raul Castro (L) and his Nicaraguan counterpart Daniel Ortega walk together during a meeting in Havana April 2, 2009. Picture taken April 2, 2009. Cuba is the only country in the region not invited — an exclusion based on decades of U.S. attempts to isolate the communist government. Castro expressed irritation that the proposed statement does not mention the calls by many Latin American leaders for an end to such boycotts and for better ties between the United States and Cuba. "Who is now demanding our exclusion? Perhaps they don't understand that times of exclusionary agreements against our people have been left far behind?" Castro wrote, suggesting that Latin American leaders should push harder against the U.S. boycott of Cuba. "One cannot keep silent in the face of unnecessary and inadmissible concessions," Castro said. Diplomats usually conclude summit declarations well before heads of state meet to announce them, though leaders can always make last-minute changes. U.S. attempts to isolate Cuba diplomatically have collapsed in recent decades and Cuba now has warm relations with most major Latin American and Caribbean nations. Ortega and nine other Latin American heads of state have traveled to Cuba since January and most have met with Fidel Castro as well as his younger brother Raul, 77, who took over as president last year when the elder Castro formally stepped aside for health reasons. President Barack Obama, who will attend the summit, does not support lifting the U.S. embargo altogether, but his administration intends to allow Americans to visit relatives in Cuba and send money to their families in this country. Some restrictions on family travel and remittances were eased temporarily in legislation Obama signed last month, but lifting the bans entirely would meet a pledge Obama made during the presidential campaign and could be a step toward a new openness with Cuba.