8-K

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

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FORM 8-K

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CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of

the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): April 18, 2016

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Bristow Group Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

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Delaware  (State or other jurisdiction  of incorporation) 001-31617  (Commission File Number) 72-0679819  (IRS Employer  Identification No.)

2103 City West Blvd.,  4^th Floor  Houston, Texas  (Address of principal executive offices) 77042  (Zip Code) 

Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (713) 267-7600

Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report: NONE

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Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

¨ Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

¨ Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

¨ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

¨ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Item 5.02. Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

On April 18, 2016, each of Mr. Jeremy Akel, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Bristow Group Inc. (the “Company”), Michael Imlach, Vice President, Operations of the Company, and Michael Sim, Vice President, Global Business Development of the Company, departed the Company. Each of Messrs. Akel, Imlach and Sim and the Company are in the process of negotiating a Separation Agreement and Release in Full to specify the terms of his respective departure from the Company with the benefits and compensation provided in connection therewith anticipated to be substantially consistent with the termination without cause terms set forth in the Bristow Group Inc. Management Severance Benefits Plan for U.S. Employees effective June 4, 2014 that was filed as Exhibit 10.7 to the Company’s Form 10-K on May 20, 2015 (the “Severance Plan”).

The previously separate offices of Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Company and Senior Vice President and Chief Corporate Development, New Ventures and Strategy Officer of the Company will be temporarily combined effective April 18, 2016 into a new executive officer position of Senior Vice President, Operations and Chief Commercial Officer. Mr. Chet Akiri, who has served as the Company’s Senior Vice President and Chief Corporate Development, New Ventures and Strategy Officer since September 2, 2014, will become the Senior Vice President, Operations and Chief Commercial Officer effective April 18, 2016. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Akiri had worked for General Electric (GE) from 2001 to 2014, most recently as the Chief Operating Officer for the Global Nuclear Fuels America division from 2013 to 2014. Mr. Akiri also served as Vice President and General Manager of GE Hitachi Parts Services from 2010 to 2013, and previously in other senior management roles in GE Aviation; Consumer and Industrial; Industrial Solutions; and in GE’s corporate headquarters where he was an executive in the Global Business Development Group. Prior to joining GE, Mr. Akiri held vice president and senior vice president roles in several entrepreneurial ventures, served as an associate in Corporate Finance with Goldman Sachs & Co. and was a management consultant with Corporate Decisions, which was acquired by Mercer Management Consulting.

Item 7.01. Regulation FD Disclosure.

On April 18, 2016, the Company issued a press release announcing the departure of each of Messrs. Akel, Imlach and Sim from the Company and the appointment of Mr. Akiri to the office of Senior Vice President, Operations and Chief Commercial Officer effective April 18, 2016, a copy of which is furnished with this report as Exhibit 99.1.

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits

(d) Exhibits

Exhibit	Description of Exhibit
99.1	Press Release dated April 18, 2016

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

	BRISTOW GROUP INC.
Date: April 18, 2016	By:	/s/ E. Chipman Earle
		E. Chipman Earle Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary

EX-99.1

Exhibit 99.1 NEWS RELEASE

Bristow Group Strengthens Operational and Leadership Structure

• New structure to improve operational effectiveness and ensure continued market leadership

• Chet Akiri to become Acting Senior Vice President Operations and Chief Commercial Officer

HOUSTON, April 18, 2016 -- Bristow Group today announced the strengthening of its operational structure by centralizing, simplifying and standardizing its business operations to improve safety performance, effectiveness and efficiency for clients. This new structure will enable the company to continue to reduce costs, while improving its leading competitive position. As part of these operational changes, Bristow will also continue to pursue its diversification strategy into new business growth areas, similar to the UK SAR contract.

As part of this new organizational structure, Chet Akiri has been named acting senior vice president operations and chief commercial officer reporting to Bristow Group President and Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Baliff. Jeremy Akel, who previously served as Bristow’s senior vice president and chief operating officer, has departed the company, and Bristow is eliminating the chief operating officer position. Also departing the organization is Mike Imlach, Bristow’s vice president of global operations and Mike Sim, vice president of business development.

Jonathan Baliff, commented: “The current downturn in our industry is likely to further impact our clients’ capital spending in fiscal 2017. As a result, in order to improve our safety performance, maintain our leadership position and sustain our long-term success, we have actively taken the additional and necessary steps to strengthen the business during these challenging times. These changes flatten our corporate leadership team structure, provide me with closer oversight of the operations and help us drive further revenue enhancements and cost reductions that are required. I would like to thank Jeremy, Mike and Mike for their years of service and contributions to Bristow and wish them much success in their future endeavors.”

In his new role, Akiri will merge corporate strategy and diversification with the other commercial areas of the company, including oil and gas business development, that further benefit Bristow’s customers and increase its competitiveness. Akiri will oversee operations on an interim basis while a search is underway for a new senior vice president of global operations.

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BRISTOW STRENGTHENS STRUCTURE/PAGE 2

Akiri joined Bristow in 2014 as Bristow’s senior vice president and chief corporate development, new ventures and strategy officer. Prior to joining Bristow, Akiri built high performance teams and successfully led strategic, commercial and operations planning and implementation in senior management positions at General Electric (GE). He served as chief operating officer for Global Nuclear Fuels America, and vice president and general manager of GE Hitachi Parts Services, where he had full profit and loss responsibility and was accountable for sales and margin growth, product development, operations, manufacturing, supply chain and regulatory compliance.  He also served as a global sourcing leader for the Consumer & Appliances and Industrial Systems businesses, and was a merger and acquisition executive at GE’s corporate headquarters and aviation units.

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About Bristow Group Inc.

Bristow Group Inc. (NYSE: BRS) is the leading provider of industrial aviation services offering exceptional transportation, search and rescue (SAR) and aircraft support services, including helicopter maintenance and training, to government and civil organizations worldwide. With headquarters in Houston, Texas, Bristow has major operations in the North Sea, Nigeria, the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, and in most of the other major offshore oil and gas producing regions of the world, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Russia and Trinidad. Bristow provides SAR services to the private sector in Australia, Canada, Guyana, Norway, Russia and Trinidad, and to the public sector for all of the UK on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Media Contact:

Julie King

Bristow Group

Phone: +1-832-783-7927 | Mobile: +1-832-551-9814

E-mail: julie.king@bristowgroup.com

Investor Contact:

Linda McNeill

Bristow Group

Phone: +1-713-267-7622

E-mail: linda.mcneill@bristowgroup.com