Features Military Operations
HAI Sadly Announces the Passing of Bruce Smith

Dec. 31, 2007 – Born
into an army family in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada, Bruce grew up in
Alberta, Ontario and Germany before settling in Edmonton, Alberta. He
received his Diploma in Civil Engineering Technology from the Northern
Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) before pursuing his real passion
— flying. He earned his helicopter pilot’s license in 1973 at Skyrotors
in Arnprior, Ontario on the Bell 47 G2 and never looked back.

Throughout his 34-year career, he worked for Associated Helicopters,
MacMillan Bloedel, Nova, Alpine Helicopters, and Canadian Helicopters.
In 2001, he became a Civil Aviation Inspector for Transport Canada. His
spent much of his career in remote areas such as the Canadian Arctic
working in exploration, rescue, pipelines, heliskiing, and fighting
forest fires. He was committed to safety and made it a priority to
mentor young pilots.  He also spent many years as an instructor,
working in Western Canada, Venezuela, and Sweden.

Bruce flew rotor and fixed-wing aircraft and held 21 endorsements,
including on the Hiller 12E, Sikorsky 76, Bell 206, Bell 212, King Air
100, and A139. He had more than 13,000 helicopter hours and more than
2,000 fixed-wing. Bruce was married for 39 years to Abigail. They have
five children and eight grandchildren.