AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2023 - 60

Panther Helicopters' fleet includes Bell
models 206, 407, and the Long Ranger. The
company name is derived from Panepinto's
last name and because his first helicopter was
black. The company office is in Belle Chasse,
Louisiana. Lance Panepinto has more than
12,000 hours in helicopters. Each aircraft is
equipped with Sky Connect, which allows
staff at headquarters to know where the pilots
are at all times (below right).
Offshore operations
Panepinto started Panther Helicopters
in 1981 as an offshoot of his father Phil
Panepinto's seaplane business, Southern
Seaplane Inc.
(see " Fisherman's
Paradise, " November 2022 AOPA Pilot).
The elder Panepinto had served the oil
industry with his seaplanes since the late
1950s, but helicopters became the more
viable mode of transportation for workers
and others needing to fly out to the
offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.
Based in a suburb of New Orleans, the
company was perfectly positioned for the
job, and the younger Panepinto based his
helicopter business down the street from
his father's operation (his father was not
interested in expanding into helicopters).
The early 1980s was the height of oil
and gas production in the United States.
Offshore oil rigs have been in the Gulf
of Mexico since as early as 1938 when
Pure Oil (now Chevron) and Superior
(now ExxonMobil) erected a platform
a mile offshore of Calcasieu Parish in
Louisiana. From 1954 to 2007, federal offshore
areas produced 16.8 billion barrels
60
AOPA PILOT / February 2023
of oil and 173 trillion cubic feet of natural
gas. In 2007, federal offshore sites produced
27 percent of the oil and 14 percent
of the natural gas in the U.S., according
to U.S. Minerals Management Services.
An executive order by then-President
George H.W. Bush banned offshore drilling
in 1990. That was reversed in 2008 by
President George Bush, but in 2010, the
largest offshore oil spill occurred in the
Gulf of Mexico. The Deepwater Horizon
oil spill is regarded as one of the worst
environmental disasters in history.
" Flying offshore is a unique experience, "
says Panepinto, who has weathered
the ups and downs and political discourse
of the industry for nearly 45 years. He
started Panther with a Robinson R22 flying
as PIC in all of the weather scenarios
that the volatile Gulf can stir up. He made
his mark by undertaking what he calls
" flying in the Perfect Storm. " He took on
missions to fly to the ships at the mouth of
the river. " That's the most dangerous flying-flying
at night in the fog trying to find
the ships that are moving. It's nothing to
play with; I'm glad I don't have to do that
anymore. " But it got his name out and
the smaller, independent oil companies
started calling. Panther flies as far as 120
miles offshore to smaller, independent oil
company rigs and also now delivers pipeline
workers to the larger platforms.
The challenge of landing on an oil
rig platform is great. " There is no windsock
on the platform. You read the water,
checking the wave movement. We call 10
minutes out so the activity on the heliport
is shut down and ready for us. Then
you get the 'green deck' permit to land
from the production foreman. There
could be many reasons you can't land-
there could be a crane on the deck, a boat
in the area, or people or other refueling
operations. And then there's methane
gas. All operations stop. " The gas is invisible
and if a helicopter flies through it,
there is the potential for an explosion.
The helipads range from 35 feet by 35
feet to 50 feet by 50 feet.
Risky flying
Panther Helicopters now has four Bell
206 L4s, two 407s, and a JetRanger. " I
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2023

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