This Day in History: State-of-the-art copters join company fleet

From the Aug. 6, 2008, edition of The Arabian Sun

Saudi Aramco employees travelling offshore can expect a high level of safety and comfort from the 14 new helicopters joining the company's air fleet.

The workhorses of the Ras Tanura fleet, the Bell 214ST, 212, and 412, will be replaced by the newly purchased AgustaWestland AW 139 helicopters. These helicopters will serve Saudi Aramco's offshore oil and gas operations, security surveillance and VIP transportation needs.

The AW139 is the next generation rotor-wing aircraft. It features an advanced avionics system and four-axis autopilot and is able to perform offshore and hoist loads with high safety margins and endurance.

It is considered one of the capable civilian helicopters available. The AW139 ushers in safety, comfort, advanced technology, and performance.

Saudi Aramco Aviation Department manager Ali A. Ashban, who visited the company's technical team based in Milan, said, "The introduction of the AW139 to Saudi Aramco operations is the culmination of two years of intensive teamwork by the various divisions in the Aviation Department in partnership with our proponents."

Caption for top photo: One of Saudi Aramco's 14 new AgustaWestland AW139 helicopters.

Also on this date

2012 — "Curiosity" rover lands on the surface of Mars

2010 — Flash floods across a large part of Jammu and Kashmir, India, damages 71 towns and kills at least 255 people

1996 — NASA announces that meteorite ALH 84001, thought to have originated from Mars, contains evidence of primitive life-forms

1991 — Tim Berners-Lee releases files describing his idea for the World wide Web, and WWW makes its first appearance as a publicly available service on the internet

1986 — A low-pressure system that redeveloped off the New South Wales coast dumps a record 13 inches of rain in a single day on Sydney, Australia

1965 — U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnsons signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law

1945 — The "Enola Gay" drops the atomic bomb "Little Boy" on Hiroshima, Japan, killing an estimated 70,000 people instantly, with tens of thousands dying in subsequent years from radiation burns and poisoning

1940 — Estonia becomes part of the Soviet Union

1926 — Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim across the English Channel

1890 — William Kemmler becomes the first person to be executed by electric chair at Auburn Prison in New York

1819 — Norwich University is founded in Vermont as the first private military school in the United States

1661 — The Treaty of the Hauge is signed by Portugal and the Dutch Republic

1284 — The Republic of Pisa is defeated in the Battle of Meloria by the Republic of Genoa