The president and CEO of a Richmond-based helicopter company was recognized for his lifetime contribution to the Canadian helicopter industry.

Daniel Sitnam, who helms Helijet International Inc., was presented with the Helicopter Association of Canada’s (HAC) 2019 Agar-Stringer Award last month.

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“Danny has been a pioneer in the Canadian helicopter industry in many ways,” said HAC president Fred Jones, who presented the award, in a press release.

“Under his leadership, Helijet has become a highly versatile company, succeeding as both a scheduled helicopter airline and an air ambulance provider.”

Last year, three B.C. ambulance helicopters were fitted with night vision imaging technology, thanks to a partnership between Helijet and BC Emergency Health Services.

The helicopter’s night vision goggles amplify available light so the pilot can see in the dark.

In addition to ambulance services, Helijet also services film, tourism, corporate and natural resources industries. The company also operates heliports through its subsidiary, Pacific Heliport Services.

“I don’t see (the Agar-Stringer Award) as being just about me,” said Sitnam in a release.

“It’s about the 170 professionals who go to work at Helijet every day, driving the company forward and making a different to the people and communities we serve.”

Sitnam has been in the aviation industry since 1977, when he began helicopter training in Pitt Meadows. After obtaining his license, he flew light and medium utility helicopters in the Yukon, Alberta and Northern B.C.

In the mid-1980s, Sitnam launched Helijet to offer scheduled flights between Vancouver and Victoria.

And in 2017, he was inducted into the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame.

According to Helijet, the airline has grown to become the largest helicopter airline in the world over the past 33 years and now has a combined fleet of 17 helicopters and turbo-prop aircraft at its disposal.

The Agar-Stringer Award is awarded to people who have made outstanding contributions to the Canadian helicopter industry, according to HAC’s website.

The award named after Carl Agar and Alf Stringer, two former Royal Canadian Air Force members, who, following their discharge after the Second World War, went to the U.S. to buy what would become the first helicopter ever registered in Canada.

Their company, Okanagan Helicopters (which later merged with Canadian Helicopters Corporation) quickly became the largest commercial helicopter operator in the world, according to HAC.