OAS in Port Harcourt
This is to inform our esteemed clients that we have commenced construction of our permanent base in Port Harcourt, Military Base, next to Arik Air premises.
The base when completed will encompass an international OGP standard hangar for oil and gas aviation, and a 5000 square meter ramp for fixed wing aircraft.
The base is expected to be completed by the end of 2011.
OAS kicks off Abuja Township VIP Shuttle!
OAS Helicopters has commenced the eagerly awaited VIP shuttle flight services between NICON Luxury Hotel, Abuja and the Abuja Airport.
VIPs can now safely and comfortably fly direct to the NICON Luxury Hotel, Abuja, without the trauma of land traffic and the added worry of insecurity. Travel and business arrangements can now be carefully planned with no room for disappointments.
With our helicopter Jet-Range charter service, we can as well fly to other parts of Nigeria.
Abuja Airport and NICON Luxury Hotel will serve as our base for this operation; hence all flight will either be: ABUJA AIRPORT or NICON Luxury Hotel to WHEREVER and back to ABUJA AIRPORT or NICON Luxury Hotel.
The flight shall be carried out using our fully air-conditioned helicopters with seating capacity of 5+1 or 10+1 passengers.
The opportunity offered by this project is not one to be missed because it does not present itself so often mainly because Abuja, being the seat of Government of Nigeria, is generally a no-fly zone. OAS is now the first ever, and only civil aviation operator to operate in and out of the Abuja city centre.
The Abuja shuttle project was first conceived as far back as 2006 but the perfection of documentation and regulatory/government approvals materialized just this year, 2010.
The introduction of the Abuja shuttle service is seen by many as a welcome relief, coming at a time road users, including very busy VIPs, spend between One and Three hours to commute between the Airport and city centre owing to on-going renovation/reconstruction of roads.
Under the wider scope of the Abuja project, OAS will also fly VIPs from Abuja to their home towns or other destinations of their choice in record time. For example, it takes, by helicopter, just One hour to fly from Abuja to Ile-Ife, the Osun State capital. Any other possibility will amount to seven hours by road, or up to about 4.5 hours if you fly to Lagos or Akure airport and complete the journey by road, plus stress and endless waiting etc!
BANNER DEMONSTRATION
At about 11am on Wednesday the 21st of January 2009, Oas Helicopters, after successful demonstration of helicopter banner tow to the officials of Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), became the first commercial helicopter operator in Nigeria to operate helicopter banner tow over the cities in Nigeria.
It all started on the 4th of September 2008 when OAS concluded negotiation with Hobs Heli-banner, a Uk based corporation that manufacture and control a world acclaimed best helicopter banner tow system (see: www.hobsbanners.com).
In September 2008, Oas entered into partnership agreement with Hobs to carry its brand to further widen its growing aerial flight campaigns in Nigeria.
By this feat, Oas can now fly helicopter towed banner ranging from 50 square meters to one hectare (the size of a football field) over and across the cities in Nigeria.
According to one advertisement company executive on the scene of the demonstration "a visit to Hobs Heli-banner website will expose you to one most astonishing mode of advertisement campaign which has never been utilized in Nigeria owing to the system falling within the highly technically inclined method. In hobs' website, you will see that all the worldwide respected products had been placed on a huge banner and towed over the cities across the globe from Australia, Japan, south Africa, UAE through France, Spain, England, Russia to USA, Mexico, Brazil etc. It's just amazing Nigeria is getting it now, thanks to OAS."
"One unique and delightful character of this kind of advertisement comes on the sighting of a huge banner/logo moving gracefully over the sky. Because the helicopter towing the banner is way above and far away from the banner, especially with the line attaching the banner to the helicopter now completely invisible due to height, the banner looks like it's flying straight just by itself, and you can see it from miles away just by looking up in the sky - amazing!"
The banners are visitble for approximately 10 miles and can come in broad ranges of sizes.
FILMING FLIGHT FOR JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC
1st to 5th of October, Nigeria construction giant, JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC., in conjunction with ATKON movie production of Germany undertook filming of all major Julius Berger projects (completed and under construction) in Nigeria using one of our helicopters kitted with Tyler Camera sets. The filming flights covered Lagos area, bridges and other gigantic structures; Niger Delta regions, including Brass LNG and Bonny LNG projects, Ekole bridge and other magnificent projects in that environs. Also, covered in the filming flight were the Abuja areas involving myriad of bridges, boulevards, majestic edifices like NNPC headquarters, CBN headquarters, Abuja Central Mosque etc as well as Julius Berger headquarters; Julius Berger Quarries and Pre-fab concrete factories and other numerous sites.
The filming flight required the right type of helicopter and a helicopter pilot with aerial flight experience of flying in between buildings, slow flights, sideward and rearward flights, rock solid out of ground effect hover as well as precision angle flights.
Below are pictures of our helicopter, the cameraman and equipment used for the filming.
TARABA STATE "PLATOH" FLIGHT (26th and 27th September 2008)
Gembu is the border town south of Taraba State also bordering Nigeria and Cameroon. Town of Gembu seats at 6500 feet MSL with wonderful climatic condition which makes the use of air-conditioner in the area superfluous. When Taraba State Government designed to develop the town into a tourist centre and planned to lunch the commencement of its development programme inviting Federal Ministers and neighbouring state governors, the question of how to take the VIPS from Jalingo government house which situates just 100 nautical miles away from Gembu but seats at near sea level becomes a herculean task. To go by road takes about 8 hours of drive snaking through numerous mountains and valleys only possible with rugged 4-wheeldrive vehicles.
OAS helicopter was contracted to shuttle the VIPS to the Platoh, as Gembu is fondly called, using two of our helicopters piloted by our mountain flying experienced pilots.
See some pictures at the “Platoh” captured by an amateurish photographer
MOUNTAIN FLYING IN SEARCH OF BLACK BOX:
When Nigeria National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) needed a reliable helicopter airworthy and trustworthy to airlift the search team comprising NEMA officials, Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) official , hunters and other security agencies up to the rocky mountain of Bebi in Obudu area of Cross River State in search of the flight data recorder (black box) belonging to Beechcraft 1900D which crashed into the mountain five and a half month earlier, they weren’t just looking for a high altitude capable helicopter; rather, they needed an operator with a combination of the right helicopter and crew members highly experienced in helicopter mountain flying as well as enplaning and deplaning ability. At this feat, Oas Helicopters stood unchallenged. From the first day when the active and frantic search began to third day when the flight data recorder was found, one of AS-350s was used to ferry the search team to and fro the mountain which stood at 6000 feet MSL and covered an area of over twenty square kilometers with about thirteen mountain peak points and deadly gullies tightly aligned with rain forest trees of over 300 feet tall each. “Thank God Oas is an indigenous” was the word of the Lt. Colonel who co-ordinate the search
BRANDING FLIGHT
On the 1st of August 2008, Zain Mobile went up in the sky with one of our helicopters. The helicopter branded in full Zain Nigeria logo launched the mobile network into the sky with Zain Nigeria chief Executive Officer, Mr. Bayo Ligali, as well as the Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Lars Stock from the beach front on Ahmadu Bello Way Victoria Island.
When our helicopter took off at the launch pad, at the beach front, observers concurred there is just no other means of sending any product into the air more realistic and fascinating than this “mobile service stays in the air, there goes Zain physically up in the sky, it can’t be better” one observer commented.
GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEY FLIGHT NEWS:
Between the 17th and 23th of June, one of our versatile utility helicopters configured with modern geographical survey equipment structurally designed to fit on the airframe of this work-horse helicopter, commissioned by BuenGoe, France, in conjunction with Lafarge Cement Wapco Nig. Plc., undertook aerial geographical survey to determine value and quantity of some industrial mineral deposit in some areas of Ogun state. This survey which was originally estimated to last ten days was completed within six days, thanks to our experience pilot whose expertise in this kind of special flight operation not only made things easy but also snappier. See pictures below showing survey equipment fitted on our helicopter.
Aligning the survey equipment (Above)
Helicopter airborne with survey equipment (Above)
ONE NEW HELICOPTER IS ADDED TO OUR FLEET:
A seven place seating configuration (pilot and 6 passengers) AS-350 B2 manufactured July 2004 was added to our fleet. this helicopter under the New Zealand registration would bear N5-BLI Nigeria registration. See pictures below
ZUMA ROCK
This was a historical day in the life of Niger State of Nigeria. On this day, the first citizen of the state, His Excellency, Governor Babangida Aliyu became the first blackman and none rock climber to set his foot on the glorious Zuma Rock.
In his quest for unique Tourism development and to correct the age assumption which held that Zuma Rock was in Abuja territory, the wise and bold correction method the governor's team embraced was to conquer the Rock and place a plaque on the very peak of the Rock. since this can only be rightly done by none other than the number one citizen of the State and his officials as well as Tourism experts, the challenge became the possibility, since nobody, except some foreign professional rock climbers who visited long time ago, has ever gone to the top of the rock which stood at about 2500 ft MSL (1100 ft AGL). But when arrangement got to top gear with all other methods leading to stall, the event organizers, BEYOND 360°, didn't really see any challenge with Oas Helicopters very much available and capable to take His Excellency and his entourage to the top of the Rock using one of the versatile high altitude helicopter in history.
Using one of our AS-350 B2 helicopter, sixty (60) persons were flown up to the peak on the Rock for the ceremony. See pictures below: 
Elvir films, France and the great French photographer, Yann Arthusbertrand in association with CFAO Nigeria and Total/Elf Petroleum Nigeria embarked on a documentary film flight using one of the most versatile helicopter model with matchless reputation in filming and photo industry the world over. This helicopter, AS-350 B2, operated in Nigeria by OAS Helicopters is noted the Europe most successful helicopter (Rotor & Wings), and regarded the most versatile light utility helicopter of all time. Undisputed of this helicopter reliability, gimbal and thermal imaging camera manufacturers made a specific camera mount structure that fits on its airframe structure to provide compatibility which gives helicopter movie filming and aerial photography business a positive hand-in-glove package. The shooting taken from Lagos ocean line area through the Niger Delta shore lines to Port Harcourt city and Onne axis. Picture and video shots at: www.goodplanet.org - www.yannarthusbertrand.org Pictures below show our year 2005 AS-350 B2 helicopter with the camera. Pix 1 & 5: helicopter with camera mounted ready to go into action. Pix 2: Camera operator examining the camera with the film director ready to go. Pix 3 & 4: helicopter airborne to action. 
Helicopter with camera mounted ready to go into action.
Camera operator examining the camera with the film
director, Yann Arthusbertrand (seated in the copter) ready to go.
New Addition of Aircraft
OAS just acquired an AS-350 B2. This new addition to their fleet is a fully loaded VIP configuration. This helicopter was manufactured October 2005. It has less than 700hrs as at when it touched down at OAS Heliport on Maryland. The aircraft came with intercom system with full airconditioner.
Sitting Capacity: (6) 5 passengers + 1 pilot.
Also expected to be added to our fleet of aircrafts are: EC-135 EMS/AIR Ambulance inJuly 2008, AS-350 B2 Brand New in June 2008 and EC-155 12 +2 Seater Helicopter in Oct 2008. The helicopters are the latest in technology fromEurocopter. The helicopters are equiped with VIP configuration such as A/C, Intercom and sound system for the comfort of passengers.
Capt. Evarest Nnaji (middle) MD/CEO OAS Helicopters and NCAA officials during the hand over of current AOC of the company.
Capt. Moses Weefur, Capt. Everest Nnaji, and Capt. Dare (Director of Operations NCAA) during the Hand over of the AOC
Area photography
Wim Robberechts & Co., Belgium and Nigeria Film producer, Kingsley Ogoro, carried out a filming flight over the Lagos area using one of our AS-350s. The film camera was fitted on the helicopter airframe structure and controlled from the inside of the helicopter by a cameraman who sat confortably on the inside using camera control panel and looking into TV monitor provided inside the helicopter.
Preparing the filming in our hanger
Helicopter ready for take-off
Helicopter in the air filming
Dr (Chief) Emmanuel Kachikwu, buried his father in his home town in style. Two of our helicopters were used for this event. From Benin Airport, the Casket was placed in one of the helicopters, while celebrant and some family members flew in the second helicopter, and in what looked like a formation flight (air convoy) the celebrant's late father was flown into the hometown where dignitaries from all over the world, associates, family members, town mourners etc had their eyes fixed on the sky for hours watching a spectacular aerial display of the copters before finally touching down for the Laid to Rest.
Casket in the chopper in Benin Airport before take-off to the venue.
VIP ROOF LANDING:
One of our helicopters landed in a VIP's country home roof top in Enugu State
