FlightSafety International said it plans to open a helicopter learning center in Lafayette, La., in the fourth quarter of this year. The first full-motion flight simulator scheduled for installation at the center is a Sikorsky S-76C+/++. The Lafayette learning center will focus on offshore operations training as well as courses targeting most helicopter types operating in the Gulf. As many as eight full-motion flight simulators can be installed at the center.

FlightSafety also announced that it will host its fourth annual Helicopter Safety Forum May 8-9 at the Embassy Suites hotel near Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. The free two-day seminar will focus on safety management systems, risk assessment and management, inadvertent IMC procedures, night operations, controlled flight into terrain, new technologies, FAA advisories and NTSB recommendations. NTSB board member Steve Chealander will be the keynote speaker.