American Eurocopter AS350 Full Flight Simulator Certified by Federal Aviation Administration

Orlando, Florida, March 6, 2011 -- American Eurocopter announced today that the Federal Aviation Administration has granted its AS350 Full Flight Simulator (FFS) Level B and NVG training certification continuing the company's enhancement of its training capabilities in support of its helicopter operators' efforts to improve flight safety.

With the Level B certification, American Eurocopter's Part 135 customers can incorporate the simulator into their training programs and receive training credits. The AS350 Level B FFS with NVG certification training can provide a complete training experience for customers in a variety of missions including Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS), business aviation, off shore and utility work.

"This certification allows our customers to fully utilize our AS350 Level B Full Flight Simulator in their training programs," explained Marc Paganini, President and CEO of American Eurocopter. "Now it is not only the most technologically advanced AS350 simulator in the world, it is also the only AS350 Level B Full Flight Mission Simulator with NVG training certification in the world."

American Eurocopter's AS350, now Level B, FFS has already been implemented in the law enforcement market for initial and recurrency training, and several customers have completed training programs. These customers have included U.S. customers, as well as international customers.

"We designed our AS350 simulator to be a flight and mission simulator that would provide a unique training environment for customers in a wide variety missions," continued Paganini. "It truly has international appeal. We have already had customers from Canada and Botswana complete training, and we have had discussions with Eurocopter customers from as far away as South Korea and Russia."

The simulator is equipped with a full-motion platform and is convertible from AS350 B2 to AS350 B3. It has a full cabin for "true" Crew Resource Management (CRM) training and features VEMD, NVG, auto pilot, FLIR Star Safire III (including hand controller, TV and IR mode), AeroComputers moving map, and a SpectraLab SX-16 slaved searchlight. The AS350 Level B FFS provides training options for aircraft emergency procedures, CRM, NVG, Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS), and Airborne Law Enforcement (ALE). After the training period, flight crews will review their training experience at the Debriefing Station, which doubles as a Tactical Command Console for Chief Pilots, Unit Commanders and Incident Commanders to direct the parameters of the simulation.

Eurocopter's Level B AS350 FFS was developed with Indra Systems and was inaugurated in October of last year. For more information about American Eurocopter's AS350 Level B FFS, its training packages, or American Eurocopter's Training Center, stop by Eurocopter's Heli-Expo booth #4637 or contact training@eurocopterusa.com.