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Alkan Air Ltd. of Whitehorse, Yukon, is pleased to announce that the Cessna Caravan Blackhawk XP42A engine upgrade is now approved for commercial IFR flight by Canadian air taxi operators.
Alkan Air has been working with officials within Transport Canada since 2012 to allow the commercial IFR use of the Blackhawk Modifications Inc. (BMI) supplemental type certificate (STC). This STC replaces the original 675 SHP Pratt & Whitney PT6-114A with a factory new 850 SHP PT6-42A, providing dramatic improvements in performance and safety margins.
The current wording of the regulations and associated standards did not provide clear direction as to whether the STC would prohibit a Canadian commercial operator from transporting passengers during night or instrument conditions.
On Feb. 7, 2013, Transport Canada approved and signed an exemption from Paragraph 703.22(2)(b) of the Canadian Aviation Regulations and Paragraphs 723.22(1)(a) and (b) of the Commercial Air Service Standards. This exemption will allow Canadian air operators and their flight crew members to operate Cessna Caravan Model C208 aeroplanes retrofitted with a PT6A-42A turboprop engine in accordance with the BMI supplemental type certificate STC SA02357LA issued by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.
Initial discussions regarding the STC focused on an operator-specific exemption. Alkan Air is pleased that these efforts will now benefit all Canadian commercial operators who choose to invest in this STC. The company would like to thank those Transport Canada officials who helped see this process through to completion.
Alkan Air has been operating one Blackhawk 42A modified Caravan since the spring of 2012. Despite the previous visual weather conditions limitation, the aircraft was well received by our flight crews and customers alike. Customer demand was so strong that Alkan Air invested in the upgrade of a second Caravan.
Since being founded in 1977, Alkan Air Ltd. has continued to re-invest in improved infrastructure, technology and service to benefit our customers. We are pleased to offer this increase in performance and margin of safety in our Caravan fleet provided by the Blackhawk STC.
Blackhawk Modifications, Inc., founded in 1999 in Waco, Texas, is a recognized aviation leader in providing engine performance solutions to the turboprop fleet. The company has the largest installed fleet of STC twin-engine turboprop engine upgrades and is the largest buyer of new Pratt & Whitney turboprop engines in the world. A worldwide network of approved dealers and service support centres complements Blackhawk’s U.S. facilities. For more information, visit www.blackhawk.aero.
