Busy Sikorsky outsources work

Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. is outsourcing additional helicopter assembly work to Kaman Corp. of Bloomfield.

Kaman said it will assemble components of cabins, cockpits, tail cones and landing gear for Sikorsky Black Hawk and Seahawk helicopters at its HeliworX facility in Bloomfield.

Since 2004, Kaman has been installing cockpit wiring harnesses, hydraulics, pedals and sticks, and the windshield structure for 100 Black Hawk helicopters, primarily at its facility in Jacksonville, Fla. In February, Kaman received a follow-on order for 175 additional helicopter assemblies.

In separate news, a federal judge in New York is transferring a $60 million lawsuit against Sikorsky into Connecticut federal court.

Copterline Oy, which ran helicopter shuttles between Finland and Estonia, sued Stratford-based Sikorsky and its Trumbull-based service affiliate Helicopter Support Inc. (HSI) following the 2005 crash of one of its helicopters in the Baltic Sea, killing 14 people.

Judge Leo Glasser, who presides over the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, agreed with Sikorsky”™s contention that the case should be moved because HSI does not do business in New York.

Two separate cases filed by the widows of pilots or passengers remain under the New York court”™s jurisdiction.