Clean Gulf Associates adds aircraft for oil spill response

Offshore staff

NEW ORLEANS -- Clean Gulf Associates (CGA) has added the Basler BT-67 turboprop aircraft to its oil spill response capabilities. The BT-67, manufactured by Basler Turbo Conversions, is a completely modernized turboprop DC-3 with increased structural strengthening, upgraded avionics, turbine engines, and state-of-the-art components, CGA says. Basler has converted more than 50 existing Douglas DC-3 aircraft into the BT-67.

The plane, through the support of CGA, will be owned and operated by Airborne Support Inc. (ASI) of Houma, Louisiana and based at the Houma Terrebonne Airport for prompt response to spill incidents throughout the Gulf of Mexico.

According to Frank Paskewich, executive director of CGA, the new aircraft has been specially converted and outfitted for the application of approved dispersants over spills in the Gulf and along coastal waters. Dispersants have been widely recognized as one of the most effective tools in responding to certain types of marine oil spills and limiting the environmental impacts of those spills.

The $6.5-million dispersant aircraft is capable of applying 2,000 gallons of dispersant more than 200 mi (322 km) offshore with a single load. With more than 68,000 gallons of dispersant stock on hand, the aircraft will be capable of conducting multiple sorties in a short time, providing a timely, reliable, and effective resource for any size spill, the company says.

07/17/2009