https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1lwRL69gCo

FLIGHTS OF DISCOVERY

For 30 years, we’ve soared over Africa’s incredible landscapes, following the spirit of aviation pioneers to push boundaries and reach further. Today, we offer a comprehensive range of air services tailor-made for your specific needs from our base in Arusha, Tanzania.

We are your gateway to unforgettable adventures and critical services in Tanzania and across sub-Saharan Africa.

Heli Safaris

Tailor-made heli safaris across Tanzania’s wildest landscapes, with scenic routes and unforgettable stops along the way.

Mountain Rescue

Tanzania’s leading provider of mountain rescue, trusted for rapid response, skilled pilots, and professional care.

Conservation

For over 25 years, Tropic Helicopters has built lasting partnerships with communities, conservation groups, and government agencies to support wildlife protection across East Africa.

Utility Work

Tropic Helicopters delivers trusted aerial support for oil, gas, and geological missions across East Africa, with unmatched expertise and a proven record of success.

Our Expertise

We provide a wide range of professional helicopter services, including safaris, aerial filming, casualty evacuation, firefighting, and conservation. Each experience is expertly tailored to meet each client’s unique operational needs. With over 20 years of experience in East Africa, our expertise and reliability set us apart.

Meet The Team

Highly skilled pilots and operation professionals delivering expert helicopter services in Tanzania and beyond with precision and purpose.

Managing Director & Helicopter Pilot

Ben Simpson

After a childhood spent in Hong Kong, Ben moved to Kenya in 1996, to fly light aircraft commercially, and over the last 25 years he has developed an intimate knowledge of East Africa.

Ben is one of Tropic Air Kenya’s founding fixed-wing pilots, and he has been instrumental in establishing the company’s helicopter division, now a leader in providing world-class helicopter services throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, with branches in Kenya and Tanzania.

Much of Ben’s work includes customised helicopter adventures and safaris – delivering a thrilling wilderness experience, flying cameras for natural history documentaries, including the BBC’s award-winning ‘Africa’ series, and carrying out complex mountain rescue and medical evacuation tasks.

Director of Operations & Heli Pilot

Victor Cook

Victor grew up in the Netherlands and studied Economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam. His desire to help others led him to India, where he worked to uplift underprivileged communities through microfinance, to Switzerland as a ski instructor, and to Brazil, where he focused on business development and safety improvements at a large steel production plant. It was in Brazil that a chance helicopter flight reignited his childhood dream of becoming a rescue helicopter pilot.

Over the next decade, Victor earned his helicopter license, worked as an instructor in Florida, and flew humanitarian missions for the Red Cross in South Sudan. For the past nine years, he has flown utility missions and managed a fleet of up to eight helicopters in the remote areas above the Arctic Circle in Northern Norway.

Now, Victor and his family have relocated to the warmer regions of Tanzania. Driven by a passion for flying, economic sustainability, and helping others, Victor is proud to be part of the Tropic Helicopters team.

Chief Helicopter Pilot

Andy Payne

Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Andy was introduced to the bush at a young age. He started out in the safari industry as a guide, leading walking and canoeing trips in the Zambezi Valley. Eager to experience more of the continent’s wild places, Andy spent the following two decades guiding private safaris throughout most of sub-Saharan Africa. During this time he also helped to coordinate Anti-Poaching operations in the vast protected areas of Tanzania and it was here in 2008, that Andy learnt to fly a microlight for conservation efforts.

Shortly after that he moved to the USA to obtain his helicopter licenses and then worked a season as an instructor and tour pilot in the Rockies, Colorado.

Since returning to East Africa he has been fortunate to fly a wide variety of roles including aerial fire-fighting, medical evacuations, wildlife darting and relocations, filming, tourism and anti-poaching deployments. Andy joined the Tropic Helicopters team in April 2021 and assumed the role of Chief Pilot in Tanzania.

Operations

Rachel Maduhu

Rachel wears many hats. From overseeing operations since the company’s start to meticulously managing flight-scheduling, she’s the backbone of our flight operations. With deep knowledge of Tanzania’s travel destinations, she is the go-to staff member for agents, operators, and clients, Rachel ensures everyone is on the same page and happy, fostering seamless communication and satisfaction across the board.

Operations

Mathew Noel

Mathew has 6 years experience in flight operations. He joined Tropic Helicopters Team in 2023 as a flight operations officer. Together with his colleague Rachel, he is responsible for flight inquiries, quotations, bookings, flight planning and logistics.

Mathew works closely with our pilots, management and ground team to ensure the smooth running of the entire Tropic Helicopters operations.

Helicopter Pilot

Dale Jardine

Born and raised in South Africa, Dale Jardine developed a passion for travel and exploration during their formative years at a boarding school. Early in his professional journey, he dedicated his time to kayaking in diverse locations worldwide, establishing a home base along the Zambezi River in Zambia.

The dormant dream of flying found its awakening in 2010 when a significant opportunity presented itself. Since then, Dale’s fervor for exploration and aviation has propelled them to traverse the globe, from enchanting destinations such as Hawaii, Botswana, Zambia, and the Cayman Islands to his home in South Africa and, presently, Tanzania.

Helicopter Pilot

Hugh Dobree-Bell

Hugh was born in the UK but moved to Africa at the age of 7. With a grandfather in the RAF his love for flying was ignited at a young age. He did his fixed wing license in SA and then went on to fly in Botswana and Tanzania. He then went back to SA to get his Heli license where he did some flying in Tanzania and Zambia. He is excited to be flying and exploring Tanzanian skies again but this time in a helicopter.

Heli Technician

Cyprian Kaduka

Cyprian was born in western Kenya, schooled at Eldoret and attained his diploma in Aeronautical engineering. He got the opportunity nurture his career at Tropic Air Kenya in 2009 for his industrial attachment later in 2010 at Phoenix Aviation Wilson airport for the second run of the attachment.

In 2011, Cyprian joined Tropic Air Kenya as an intern where he worked on both helicopters and fixed wing. In 2013, he was contracted to COBHAM Aviation for air support of British Army Training Unit Kenya under the stewardship of Tropic Air.

In 2020, he worked for various companies to advance his career and rejoined Tropic Helicopters in 2023 as a helicopter technician.

Travel to the most extraordinary destinations in Tanzania.

WE ARE TRUSTED BY

Ready to adventure Tanzania and beyond with us?

We’ve officially broken ground on Msitu Heliport in Kiwengwa. This marks the beginning of our Zanzibar base of operations and the next chapter of our work along the coast. Built 3 kilometres inland at 350 feet above sea level, the location was chosen deliberately. Away from salt-heavy air and coastal corrosion, it offers a cleaner, calmer environment for our helicopter operations. 

Our vision is a purpose-built, state-of-the-art heliport developed to the same standard as our fully operational and TCAA-approved Tango Tango Zulu facility in Usa River. We can’t wait to show you the completed project once it is finished. 

📸 @gmstanzania

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Tropic Helicopters is proud to announce the launch of Tropic Helicopters Zanzibar, bringing seamless, premium air connectivity to one of East Africa’s most celebrated destinations.

As Zanzibar and Pemba Islands continue to attract large numbers of visitors each year, the need for faster, smoother and more reliable transfers has never been greater. Tropic Helicopters transforms how guests move between Zanzibar, Pemba and the Tanzanian mainland, replacing long journeys with swift, scenic flights.

Our operation is built on the proven pedigree of @tropicairkenya and Tropic Helicopters Tanzania, with purpose-selected helicopters and a professional operating culture trusted across East Africa’s luxury tourism sector.

Beyond luxury transfers, Tropic Helicopters will also support the Zanzibar Government with emergency medical services and search-and-rescue capability, strengthening safety and resilience across the islands.

From arrival to adventure, Tropic Helicopters Zanzibar elevates every journey efficiently and safely. 

Leading Tropic Helicopters Zanzibar is Maryke Pretorius (@jyta69), a respected figure in African luxury travel and aviation. With over 11 years in helicopter operations and 20 years in high-end tourism, she brings unmatched expertise and insight to our landmark launch.

See you at the beach! 

📸 @gmstanzania 

Send us a DM or email maryke@tropictz.com to get more info.

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Flying over Tarangire National Park reveals scale in its purest form: wildlife moving freely across vast, uninterrupted country, exactly as it should be.

📸 Ed Ghaui

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2026 has some exciting new prospects we can’t wait to share with you soon. 

#tropichelicopters

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Experience Northern Tanzania by helicopter. The ultimate way to enjoy your Tanzania safari and take in this massive country’s stellar views. 

📸 @ossegrecasinare 

#tropichelicopters #tanzania #tanzaniabyhelicopter

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Planning Christmas or New Year’s in Tanzania? Make space for a helicopter excursion to Ol Doinyo Lengai, the Mountain of God, where the Rift Valley tells its story from the air.

Send us a DM or email info@tropictz.com to secure a slot.

🎥 @andreyjosephs & @ossegrecasinare 

#tropichelicopters

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Breakfast on Kilimanjaro. A quiet pause above the clouds that fits naturally into a Tanzania safari.

To book your excursion, send us a message on info@tropictz.com or DM. 

#tropichelicopters #tanzania #mountkilimanjaro

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A slice of paradise by the shores of Lake Tanganyika. A perfect retreat after a full day of flying. Book your safari with us today by sending an email to info@tropictz.com. 

#tropichelicopters #tanzania #tanzaniabyhelicopter

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Breakfast on Kilimanjaro. You take off in the quiet of the morning, rise through the clouds, set down at an open glade and pour a hot cup while looking across the roof of Africa.

DM or email info@tropictz.com to book.

🎥 @gmstanzania 

#tropichelicopters #tanzania #mountkilimanjaro #tanzaniabyhelicopter #tropictz #kilimanjaro

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We can’t help but think of the new friends we make whenever we land in the middle of nowhere. Mostly, we don’t share a common language - but we share an understanding in the absurd and intriguing nature of helicopters. 

🎥 @asta_manchester in Eyasi, Tanzania. 

#tropichelicopters #tanzania #tanzaniabyhelicopter #aviation #airbushelicopters

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Hanging out with one of the rarest wild animals in the African bush in this way is an experience our guests will never forget. We were flying along a river in Nyerere National Park when we spotted a pack of African painted dogs frolicking. We touched down a short distance away to watch without disturbing them, but they wandered over, curious and excited, to check us out. We ended up spending over an hour with them in complete awe and disbelief at what we had just experienced.

#tropichelicopters #tanzania #nyererenationalpark

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