Columbia Helicopters (Booth No. 1017) announced that the Commercial Airlift Review Board (CARB) recently certified the Oregon-based company for Department of Defense (DOD) passenger and cargo operations.

With this and prior certifications, Columbia is now eligible to bid on a more comprehensive variety of contracts for heavy-lift helicopters for all U.S. government agencies.

“The verbal comments I got from the actual audit team were that we didn’t just do well, we excelled,” said Columbia Helicopters president Michael Fahey. “This will open up whole new areas of opportunities for our company.” Columbia claims to own and operate the world’s largest privately held fleet of heavy-lift helicopters.