Erickson Today

Erickson Inc. is a diverse company with multi-faceted capabilities, operating and maintaining aircraft around the world. Our signature orange S-64 Air Crane® helicopters bring relief to communities affected by wildfires; our adept crews offer support to military units; and our Aerosystems facilities breathe new life into legacy aircraft.

Erickson is invested in each aspect of our portfolio, and one of our strengths is our ability to adapt our operations and business mix to meet the evolving needs of customers. We’re proud of the company that we are today and all the accomplishments along the way. Read our timeline below for the history of Erickson’s innovations and achievements.

1945

First Helicopter Hoist

The entire premise of our services, using helicopters to move things and rescue people, was made possible by an airlift rescue off a grounded oil barge off Fairfield with a Sikorsky R-5 craft.

1969

Helicopter timber harvesting Pilot program

Jack Erickson leased an S-61 from Wes Lamata (now Columbia Helicopter) to create a pilot program with the United States Forest Service (USFS). They tested and proved the feasibility of helicopters yarding cut timber from mountain timber harvesting operations.

1971

“Erickson air-crane” founded

Bolstered by his pilot program’s success, Jack Erickson founded Erickson Air-Crane. He pioneered heli-logging techniques and expanded into powerline construction and firefighting. The work at this time required ground crews to wrap cables around fallen timber and hook them to the aircraft long line. Over the next couple of years, he purchased three S-64E from Sikorsky Aircraft Co.

1973

Intercity Hvac Capabilities

Erickson saw a greater opportunity to serve in intercity construction applications, airlifting HVAC units for removal and replacement in congested areas with high-rise buildings.

1974

ANTI-ROTATION DEVICE INVENTED

Erickson invented this device to stabilize loads, improving the HVAC service performance, and granting finesse which allowed the company to enter into building powerline towers.

1975

“SHOCK & PENDANT” INVENTED

This device, used for long line timber harvesting operations, decouples the load from the aircraft, eliminating the inherent low frequency vibrations from the rotor system and dampening the effects of cable stretch.

1992

ERICKSON BECOMES S-64 OEM & IP-HOLDER

Erickson purchased the rights to the S-64 from Sikorsky Aircraft, became the sole manufacturer and type certificate holder, and dubbed it the S-64 Air Crane® aircraft. The first production F-model rolled off the production line at the Erickson facility in Central Point, Oregon.

1992

FIRST TANKED HELICOPTER BUILT

Erickson took its new type certificate S-64 and created a 2,600-gallon fire suppression system, bolted onto it. This enabled leaps and bounds in aerial firefighting capabilities.