Helitak receives FAA certification for Super Puma fire tank
The Supplemental Type Certificate ends a three-year development process for the 4,500+ liter underbelly-mounted fire suppression tank
Helitak has announced that it has received Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) approval from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for its FT4250 fire tank for the Super Puma family of aircraft.
The 4,500+ liter underbelly-mounted tank can reportedly be installed or removed in less than 25 minutes, with no modifications needing to be made to the aircraft itself.
The certification process was overseen and managed by California-based aviation products, services and certification firm US Technical, who will also serve as the Parts Manufacturing Approval (PMA) house for the tank.
The Super Puma tank was supported throughout its development by European helicopter operator Heli Austria, who reached out to Helitak in a bid to fast-track the product’s development in 2019.
Helitak previously announced that the FAA had approved seven additional Sikorsky Black Hawk Type Certificates on the Helitak FT4500 Black Hawk fire suppression tank in November 2021.
Oliver Cuenca
Oliver Cuenca is a Junior Editor at AirMed&Rescue. He was previously a News and Features Journalist for the rail magazine IRJ until 2021, and studied MA Magazine Journalism at Cardiff University. His favourite helicopter is the AW169 – the workhorse of the UK air ambulance sector! He also led the creation of Waypoint: The AirMed&Rescue podcast, serving as its Production Editor and co-host.