Mary-Louise Hoffman
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has selected United Technologies Corp.'s Collins Aerospace unit to provide a rescue hoist technology to be used on a fleet of S-70i Firehawk helicopters.
Collins Aerospace said Wednesday it will supply Goodrich 44318 hoists to CAL FIRE and the fire departments of Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties.
LACoFD will use the technology on its S-70i while SBCFD will integrate the device onto an HH-60L Black Hawk helicopter the latter agency will convert to the aerial firefighting configuration.
S-70i, manufactured by Sikorsky, can be reconfigured for multiple missions such as search-and-rescue and emergency medical transport operations.
Nick Demogines, director of business development for hoist and winch at Collins Aerospace, said the business has provided more than 7K airborne hoists for helicopter rescue crews worldwide.
