Sky Connect announced yesterday that it is selling 75 of its Iridium-based Tracker systems, along with a purchase option of 50 more, to Era Helicopters. Lake Charles, La.-based Era will use the systems in its fleet of Agusta, Bell, Eurocopter and Sikorsky helicopters. Era primarily serves the offshore oil industry and already operates 20 helicopters equipped with the system that includes a satellite telephone voice link.

Tracker provides seamless global coverage using both GPS and Iridium links and transmits real-time aircraft reports to any authorized computer loaded with Flight Explorer Pro software. Each Tracker report includes flight details such as alerts for changes in course, altitude, destination and ETA.

Sky Connect’s Tracker transceiver weighs five pounds and uses a small, fuselage-mounted patch antenna. Units equipped with Mayday and two-way messaging capabilities require small panel-mounted components.