Aerial Firefighting North America 2020
Babcock is pleased to announce that we will be exhibiting at the Aerial Firefighting North America Expo taking place in Sacramento, CA, on March 4th and 5th.
Tangent Link’s global Aerial Firefighting series Aerial Firefighting North America (AFF NA), focuses on a new chapter in North America’s Aerial Firefighting operations and response.
This year’s event will showcase industry leaders through a variety of workshops, presentations and case studies which will debate key subjects. The theme for 2020 is Tactics, Training and Technology, and will bring together the very best minds in understanding the advances being made in this safety conscious profession.
For over 35 years, Babcock has delivered aerial firefighting services. With operations across Europe and Canada and more than 400 highly trained professionals, our pilots and operation coordinators are experts at fighting fires from the air.
Babcock operates over 100 firefighting aircraft, including both helicopters and planes (light, medium and heavies) alongside managing the Italian government’s 19 amphibious firefighting aircraft. With this fleet portfolio, Babcock provides a full range of firefighting related missions including water-dropping, ground firefighter transportation, mission coordination and real-time image gathering to feed to command and control centers.
Last year, out of our 70 firefighting bases around the world, we flew 15,000 firefighting flight hours, 5,000 missions and dropped over 150 million litres of water/foam.
In 2019, Babcock completed its first year of a 10 year contract for aerial wildfire suppression in Canada for the Government of Manitoba, covering almost 650,000 km2 and protecting a population of 1.3 million people. Babcock manages, maintains and operates Manitoba’s fleet of seven firefighting fixed-wing Canadair water-bomber amphibious aircraft, supported by three Babcock Twin Commander aircraft.
Register for Aerial Firefighting North America 2020: https://www.aerial-firefighting-northamerica.com/event-participation-options
How to Deal with Pilot Challenges
On March 4th, Mario Ferrante, Babcock’s Captain of Flight Operations for MCS Italia Fixed Wing Division, will be speaking at AFF NA. Mario is currently responsible for the operations of the Italian Viking CL415 fleet and has been fighting fires from the air for over a decade.
A former military pilot, Mario has an impressive military flight record. He flew over 1,000 hours in the F104 Starfighter before joining the Italian FRECCE TRICOLORI; a military aerobatic team. After leaving the team, Mario became a Weapon Instructor first, and then Squadron Commander. Since retiring from military service, he has been fighting fires in Viking CL415s across a wide range of scenarios and terrains.
Mario’s talk, “How to Deal with Pilot Challenges“, will discuss operational best practices to protect pilots, their training, and the use of simulation. He will examine the recruitment and retention of quality pilots, and how to achieve the highest standard of training through the combined use of both simulation and real-life training.
To learn more about Babcock’s global expertise in aerial firefighting or to meet with a member of our team, come visit us at Booth #319.
When: March 4-5, 2020
Where: McClellan Conference Centre, Sacramento, CA
To learn more about the event and register to attend: https://www.aerial-firefighting-northamerica.com/event-participation-options
