Page 11 - Volume 12 Number 4

the rear passenger cabin. It can be recon gured for an emergency medical transport within an hour. Air Inuit also offers the 11-seat commuter con guration.
Current King Air operations
All of Air Inuit’s King Airs are modi ed for the Lifeport Plus Installation used for safe and rapid loading and unloading of passengers during medevac operations. They have also been modi ed with a cargo net installation on the left-hand side of the passenger cabin for increased cargo capabilities.
“The aircraft are truly multi-purpose,” Lukca said. He’s own the King Air A100 as an air ambulance to transport a hiker mauled by a polar bear to a larger hospital as well as ying the model for daily commuters, hauling cargo and conducting ight training.
“All of our King Airs are used for ight training since all our training is completed in the air,” said Lukca, who is also a ground and ight instructor and company check pilot for Air Inuit. ‘’King Air simulators are also used in addition to ight training as part of our recurrent training program.’’
While the King Airs aren’t the only aircraft within the Air Inuit eet that can do the job – whatever that might be – they are among the most own. Air Inuit ies the King Air A100 aircraft about 1,500 hours per year.
“The DeHavilland Twin Otter is a very versatile airplane, in some cases even more so than the King Air, but when speed is a requirement, the King Air is the way to go,” Lukca said. “The King Air also allows us to y above the weather and turbulence. And with a pressurized cabin, medical transport is generally more comfortable in the King Air.”
Air Inuit has approximately 150 active pilots, a dozen of which are based throughout the North on the King Air 100 and three crews on the King Air 350 in Montreal. Maintenance is normally performed in Kuujjuaq for the A100 eet and the King Air 350 is also maintained in-house in Montreal.
As Air Inuit celebrates 40 years in operation this year, the company says the King Air will continue to play an important and wide-ranging role in its operations. Despite a challenging period for air carriers, Air Inuit continues to expand at a steady, yet temperate pace.
“Additional King Air 350s should be joining the eet as part of our King Air modernization plan,” Lukca said, “and our maintenance department will ready them for the challenging and always fun task of ying northern skies.” KA
APRIL 2018
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 9