Tr. The SPE also engaged FI Consulting, an external auditing firm, to perform an independent financial viability analysis of Neptune. The CLINs, each of which had a 5year base period and five 1-year options, contained sub-CLINs providing the Forest Service with the option to add up to 2 additional airtankers in the second contract year and 2 more airtankers in the third through tenth contract years, for a possible total of 5 aircraft and 44 aircraft-years per line item. AR, Tab 70, NextGen Contract Award Abstract, May 6, 2013. However, changing its focus during the course of the protests, the agency has also argued that its actual concern is whether it could obtain sufficient NextGen airtankers for the 2014 fire season. Coulson Aviation puts employee and Aircraft safety as Job 1. Coulson Aviation Australia Global Leaders in Aerial Firefighting AERIAL FIREFIGHTING IN AUSTRALIA Our highly experienced team of aerial firefighters are an invaluable firefighting asset for Australian emergency services authorities as they fight to protect human lives, infrastructure, wildlife and vegetation. The protesters also point to the fact that the only legitimate financial analysis conducted (the analysis by FI) demonstrated that Neptune did not require a sole-source contract to remain viable, as recognized by the agencys SPE, who refused to approve the J&A. While agencies have authority to make noncompetitive awards when necessary to maintain vital sources, they do not have authority to make noncompetitive awards merely because an offeror is unsuccessful in a competitively-conducted procurement, or because such action was promised in a settlement agreement. While it was conducting the NextGen large airtanker procurement, the Forest . Our highly experienced teams in Canada, Australia and the United States provide the worlds best performing and technologically advanced aerial firefighting apparatus. at 45. . We will question those decisions only if the evidence shows that the agency has abused its discretion. FI found that the fundamental difference was that RUS had solely relied on Neptune-provided financial projections while FI had had access to a wider range of information that allowed it to develop its own projections. Previously operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the fast, light corporate jets flew for the past 40 years tracking, detecting and intercepting illegal air smugglers attempting to cross the U.S. border. "It's going to be a newer generation Skycrane tank," Britt Coulson said, adding that the tank in the Chinook can be removed in a two-hour time period. . Tr. [22] AR, Tab 32, Forest Service Letter to Neptune, Aug. 26, 2013, at 2. . Ever innovative and creative, Coulson Aviation has established night firefighting operations in Australia and California. AR, Feb. 19, 2014, at 3-4, 8. T-137 was purchased in May 2019 by the NSW Rural Fire Service along with the two Coulson Citation II C550 support jets. Moreover, given the contract options available to the Forest Service under the competitively-awarded NextGen contracts, Neptune may no longer represent a vital source that must be maintained by the Forest Service after 2017. Protecting Australia from bushfires with our state-of-the-art aerial firefighting fleet, pilots and support staff. . Shortly after learning that it would not receive a NextGen contract award, Neptune informed the contracting officer of its intent to protest to our Office unless an acceptable solution could be worked out. Disclaimer. Id. [35] To the extent Neptune now represents a vital source, it is because of its Legacy contract. at 597, 615-16. As a final matter, in addition to the fundamental lack of support for the J&As premise that Neptune now requires a 9-year sole-source contract in order to maintain the firm in the future as a vital supplier of aircraft, the record reflects that the J&A was premised on materially inaccurate information. at 107; AR, Tab 18, Neptune Settlement Agreement, June 6, 2013, exhib. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Pentagon announces Coulson Aviation is awarded a $53 million CDN contract with the U.S. Department of Defense to equip seven Lockheed Martin C-130 aircraft with firefighting equipment. Elin M. Dugan, Esq., Inga Bumbary-Langston, Esq., Shawn S. McGruder, Esq., Mark G. Garrett, Esq., and Melissa D. McClellan, Esq., Department of Agriculture, for the agency. Tr. [2] Large airtankers can carry 1,800-8,000 gallons of fire retardant. Id. [23] The ASA is USDAs Chief Acquisition Officer, and the SPE reports to the ASA. The direct supervisors/managers are open door and good listeners. 3. Please refer to the current fleet list to see each aircraft's individual age. A, Calculation of Total Estimated Cost. [12] We dismissed Neptunes challenge to the awards related to CLINs 1-3 because Neptune was not an interested party to challenge awards under line items for which it had not submitted a proposal. [29] The J&A also stated that no other sources had expressed interest in this acquisition, but then acknowledged the agency had made no effort to solicit responses from any other sources before making its determination. These assertions, however, ignore the possibility or likelihood of Neptune acquiring additional work over the course of the next 4years. The agency justified the sole-source award under 41 U.S.C. The ASA also stated (repeatedly) that his rationale for the sole-source award to Neptune concerned the Forest Services ability to have enough large airtankers available for the 2014 fire season--not the viability of Neptune as a source of supply. The determination of whether a party is interested to challenge a sole-source award involves considering, among other things, the basis of the sole-source award. [22] The agency subsequently provided Neptune with copies of both the RUS and FI financial analyses reports. We find Coulson and Minden (and 10 Tanker) to be interested parties to challenge the reasonableness of the agencys sole-source award to Neptune for industrial mobilization reasons, as the protesters all have a direct economic interest that would be affected by the award of such a contract. 29 Sep 1995. AR, Tab 73, GAO Confirmation of Withdrawal (B-406920.8), June 7, 2013. Absent from the J&A, however, was any discussion regarding Neptunes need for a sole-source contract to remain a source of supply. Our pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers, and logistics professionals are highly experienced individuals in the aviation industry. End of Chile Aerial Firefighting Season 2022. Tr. In addition to its current Legacy contract (including options for more airtankers being placed under the Legacy contract), Neptune is not precluded from competing on work--Forest Service or otherwise--in the coming years. 18, 2014, at 9-10, 21; see also Tr. The Forest Service considers Neptune to be a vital supplier of airtankers. AR, Tab31, FI Email to USDA, Aug. 13, 2013, at 1. NI Indus., Inc., Vernon Div., supra. 9 of the 16 potential [large airtankers] for 2014 are older and riskier to operate than newer NextGen airtankers. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); 500 Trillium Dr., Unit 23, Kitchener, ON N2R 1E5 | Phone: 519-748-1591 | Toll-Free: 1-866-834-1114 | Fax: 519-748-2537 AR, Tab 31, FI Email to USDA, Aug. 13, 2013, at 4. We find this argument to be entirely without merit, and the reliance on FAR 6.304(d) misplaced; an accurate description of the services being obtained on a noncompetitive basis is not limited to the options that must be included when determining the J&As approval authority. Id., 21.8(f)(1). By August 2, FI completed its assessment of Neptunes financial viability. See FAR 6.302-3; see also Lance Ordnance Co. Inc.; Martin Elecs., Inc., B-246849, B-246952, Mar. [26] These specific C550s were originally modified and equipped with military fire-control radar, sophisticated infrared cameras, custom instrument panels and law enforcement communication packages. . [30] The $496,211,590 figure consists of Neptunes $70,887,370 total cost per aircraft times seven aircraft. FAR 6.302-2(c)(2). In a post to Facebook, Coulson Aviation (USA) named captain Ian McBeth, first officer Paul Hudson and flight engineer Rick DeMorgan Jr as the aerial firefighting crew who died in the crash of the . [31] The USDA contends, citing to our decision in Merlin Intl, Inc., B-310611, Jan. 2, 2008, 2008 CPD 66, that a protester is not an interested party to challenge a sole-source award unless it can meet all of the agencys requirements at the time of the sole-source determination. Two C550s are awaiting upgrades now at the Coulson Port Alberni, B.C., base, while another is presently being repainted elsewhere in the Coulson crimson and white livery. The Forest Service is not confident that five of the seven contracted NextGen airtankers will be available to fight fires in 2014. N619SW, operated by Coulson Aviation, departed from Busselton Airport south of Perth on Australia's west coast at 15:32 local time today. [32] In relevant part, the FAR states as follows: (2) Full and open competition need not to be provided for when it is necessary to award the contract to a particular source or sources in order--. GAO Notice of Partial Dismissal (B-406920.8), June 5, 2013. Click on the button below to send an email to our team and we will get to it as soon as possible. There are no executives at OTC Markets getting paid more. A, Neptune Rate Sheet. N619SW, the aircraft involved in the accident, photographed in 2022, Learn how and when to remove this template message, List of accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 737, "Rescue mission launched after firefighting aircraft crashes in WA's Great Southern", "Two pilots survive after 737 large air tanker crashes in Fitzgerald River National Park while battling bushfires", "Plane crashes as firefighters battle blaze in WA's south", "Boeing 737 crash pilots walk away from fiery wreckage as Mark McGowan hails their survival a 'miracle', "Breaking: A Boeing 737-300 Has Crashed Fighting Fires In Australia", "Boeing 737 'firefighter' crashes in Australia", "Another 737 air tanker takes to the skies -", Aviation accidents and incidents in Australia, Australian National Airways Stinson crash, Queensland Airlines Lockheed Lodestar crash, Australian National Airways Douglas DC-4 crash, Essendon Airport Beechcraft King Air crash, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2023_Coulson_Aviation_crash&oldid=1141270040, Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 737 Classic, Aviation accidents and incidents in Western Australia, Accidents and incidents involving cargo aircraft, Use Australian English from February 2023, All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English, Articles lacking in-text citations from February 2023, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Crashed into terrain, under investigation, This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 06:02. [12] AR, Tab 71, Neptune Protest (B-406920.8), May 16, 2013. Subsequently, the Forest Service realized that the sole-source contract promised to Neptune would require the approval of USDAs senior procurement executive (SPE). Neptune Comments, Feb.24, 2014, at 3-5, citing AR, Tab 150, Neptune Financial Assumptions, May 29, 2013 ([b]ased on denial of contracts under the Next Generation Airtanker Services Solicitation, Neptune is now faced with extinction after the expiration of the Legacy Contracts). By contrast, Neptune did not provide any detail with its cost projections to RUS, so it is unclear if fuel is included, or if government reimbursement is considered. Id. Tr. at480-85, 525-28; AR, Tab 149, SPE Briefing Paper for ASA, Oct. 7, 2013, at 1-7. In this case, we have a competitive field and recently awarded multiple contracts on a competitive basis to five firms from a pool of eight firms that submitted proposals on the solicitation. Estimated reading time 5 minutes, 20 seconds. . [6] We conducted a hearing there to receive testimony concerning the agencys conduct of the procurement. Specifically, in making her recommendation the SPE stated as follows: General Public policy, the Competition in Contracting Act, and the FAR promote competition to ensure a fair playing field for firms interested in doing business with the Federal government. A settlement agreement promising award of a contract on a sole-source basis in exchange for abandoning ongoing litigation, such as a bid protest, is not a permissible basis for restricting competition and excluding potential offerors. 18, 2014, at 5. 3304(a). Although the J&A documents the agencys belief that Neptune is, presently, a vital supplier of large airtanker services under Neptunes Legacy contract,[35] the J&A is devoid of evidence or analysis supporting the need to provide Neptune with a sole-source award for the firm to remain a viable source of supply. Moreover, Neptune repeatedly informed the Forest Service that Neptune would file a lawsuit against the agency if the agency did not satisfy the terms of the parties settlement agreement. T-137 was purchased in May 2019 by . 3553(c)(2). On 6 February 2023, at 12:08 pm, the aircraft involved took off from the Busselton Margaret River Airport on the first of three missions that day to respond to a fire near Hopetoun. His ex-wife, 53-year-old Anne Resnik is the daughter of the late Philip Morris. [10] The total estimated cost was based on the 5-year base period for a single aircraft. We are world leaders in aerial firefighting innovation, providing meticulously serviced aircraft in order to safely and efficiently attack fires 24/7. [38] Any sole-source contract based on urgency presumably would have been 1 year in length (i.e., the 2014 fire season), not 9 years. En route to the fires, the aircraft climbed to 29,000 feet (8,800m), before descending to around 700 feet (210m) over the fire zone once. [15] Neptune also submitted various documents (e.g., business plan, historical balance sheets and cash flow statements) with its financial projections. The newest addition to our fleet are the Coulson modified 737 FireLiner aircraft. AG-024B-C-14-9000, atB-1. Following a May 21 meeting between Neptunes CEO, Forest Service FAM and AQM Directors and staffs, and USDA counsel, the parties engaged in a series of settlement discussions concerning the Forest Services noncompetitive award of a NextGen contract to Neptune pursuant to FAR 6.302-3 (industrial mobilization) in exchange for Neptune withdrawing its May 16 protest. All rights reserved. Global Leaders in Aerial Firefighting Coulson Aviation (Coulson Aircrane Ltd.) is a privately owned family company based in Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada. As relevant here, the settlement agreement stated that: the Forest Service will award the Contract using noncompetitive procedures, pursuant to 41 U.S.C. For the next three months the Forest Service tried to reach an alternative settlement agreement with Neptune. AR, Tab 40, Forest Service Email, Nov. 7, 2013, at1-2. at 53. Michael Strain is one of East Africa's most active corporate/M&A lawyers; based in Tanzania but also covering the wider region. The protesters should submit their certified claims for costs, detailing the time expended and costs incurred, directly to the contracting agency within 60days after receipt of this decision. The SPE had several conversations with the ASA in which she recommended that he not approve the J&A as there was not a valid justification for doing so. The protesters generally do not dispute that the Forest Service requires additional large airtankers to perform its firefighting mission. Accordingly, while the J&A may demonstrate that the Forest Service needs more large airtanker services than it currently has under contract, the J&A completely fails to demonstrate that Neptune must be the supplier of such services or that Neptune currently requires a 9-year sole-source contract to keep it in business as a vital supplier for the agencys post-2017 needs. AR, Jan. 31, 2014, at 57. Coulson Aviation Australia currently operates a number of New South Wales Rural Fire Service-owned aircraft andmanages all maintenance and fleet support systems for those RFS aircraft in Australia. Tr. Competition encourages innovation and lower prices. . 3553(d)(3)(A), Neptunes protest triggered a stay of the NextGen contract awards pending our resolution of the protest. Consequently, the Forest Services belief that Neptune is a vital source, as documented in the J&A, is based upon Neptunes supply of Legacy large airtankers, which the NextGen contract awards were designed to ultimately replace. See Ridgeline Indus., Inc., supra; Minowitz Mfg. See Hearing Transcript (Tr.) at 464. AR, Jan. 31, 2014, at 9. See also Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-3. [18] AR, Tab 18, Neptune Settlement Agreement, June 6, 2013. [Forest Service] also has two firms on the legacy contract that can supply planes. Similarly, the cost projections developed by FI assumed, per the terms of the Legacy contract, that Neptune would be reimbursed its fuel costs in addition to aircraft flight rates. As stated above, our review of an agencys decision to conduct a noncompetitive procurement focuses on the adequacy of the rationale and conclusions set forth in the J&A. & Engg Co., B-403561, Nov. 18, 2010, 2010 CPD 276 at 3; SSI Tech., Inc., B-298212, B-298212.2, July 14, 2006, 2006 CPD 183 at 4. The FireLiner conversion is scheduled to be completed in May 2021 in time for the next fire season in North America. at658), the agency acknowledges that the 9-year, sole-source contract awarded to Neptune was based on the industrial mobilization exception to CICA. bid protest [challenging the award or performance of the Neptune contract] with no less vigor than that applied in any other bid protest filed against it. With our total integrated approach, we are able to provide our customers with a safe, world-class program, 24 hours a day.. Balanced Supply Source It is not clear how a noncompetitive award to Neptune would create a balanced source of supply . SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 27: Wayne Coulson, CEO of Coulson Aviation looks on during a press conference at the NSW Rural Fire Service Headquarters, Sydney Olympic Park on January 27, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. Tr. Where a federal agency makes a sole-source award for purposes of maintaining a particular source for an item or service, concern for maximizing competition is secondary to the agencys industrial mobilization needs. We have six 737 FireLiner tankers, each receiving 43,000+ technician hours to become fully compliant and operational. Coulson made its airtanker available shortly thereafter, AR, Jan. 31, 2013, at 21, and the Forest Service accepted the cures proposed by the other contractors. Tr. AG-024B-C-14-9000, at B-1. Various internal meetings also took place among senior Forest Service and USDA officials, including USDAs Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment (NRE Undersecretary) and the Assistant Secretary for Administration (ASA),[23] in an attempt to resolve the Neptune matter. The company was formerly known as Pink OTC Markets Inc. and changed its name to OTC Markets Group Inc. in January 2011. AR, Tab 144, RUS Email to USDA, June 3, 2013. After receiving the offerors responses, the TEB prepared an evaluation report that included the evaluators final consensus evaluation and analysis of the offerors evaluated prices. The J&A also failed to consider the additional large airtankers that Coulson had offered to make available to the Forest Service. See Agency Post-Hearing Comments, Mar. Robert K. Stewart, Jr., Esq., Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, for Neptune Aviation Services, Inc., the intervenor. As the President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of OTC Markets, the total compensation of R Coulson at OTC Markets is $924,940. See FAR 6.302-2(d) (the total period of a noncompetitive contract awarded on the basis of urgency generally may not exceed the time necessary to satisfy the urgent needs). . In reaching its conclusions, FI found that Neptune had based its revenue projections for years 2-5 of the Legacy contract on the base-year rates instead of the higher, option-year rates set forth in the contract. By contrast, the second analysis conducted by FI--which did not simply accept Neptunes projections--found that Neptunes revenue projections were inconsistent with the terms of the Legacy contract, that Neptunes expected costs were lower than the company had itself projected, and that Neptune did not require a NextGen contract to remain viable through the term of the Legacy contract.