Accounts Receivable and Allowance for Doubtful Accounts (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011	May 31, 2012 NAMSA (Greece)	Sep. 30, 2012 Accounts receivable Credit concentration risk item	Dec. 31, 2011 Accounts receivable Credit concentration risk item	Sep. 30, 2012 Accounts receivable Credit concentration risk Italian Ministry of Civil Protection	Dec. 31, 2011 Accounts receivable Credit concentration risk Italian Ministry of Civil Protection	Sep. 30, 2012 Accounts receivable Credit concentration risk NAMSA (Greece)	Sep. 30, 2012 Accounts receivable Credit concentration risk Hellenic Fire Brigade (Greece)	Dec. 31, 2011 Accounts receivable Credit concentration risk Hellenic Fire Brigade (Greece)	Sep. 30, 2012 Accounts receivable Credit concentration risk US Forest Service	Dec. 31, 2011 Accounts receivable Credit concentration risk Helicorp (Australia)	Sep. 30, 2012 Revenues Customers concentration risk	Sep. 30, 2011 Revenues Customers concentration risk	Sep. 30, 2012 Revenues Customers concentration risk	Sep. 30, 2011 Revenues Customers concentration risk	Sep. 30, 2012 Revenues Customers concentration risk Italian Ministry of Civil Protection	Sep. 30, 2011 Revenues Customers concentration risk Italian Ministry of Civil Protection	Sep. 30, 2012 Revenues Customers concentration risk Italian Ministry of Civil Protection	Sep. 30, 2011 Revenues Customers concentration risk Italian Ministry of Civil Protection	Sep. 30, 2012 Revenues Customers concentration risk NAMSA (Greece)	Sep. 30, 2012 Revenues Customers concentration risk NAMSA (Greece)	Sep. 30, 2011 Revenues Customers concentration risk Hellenic Fire Brigade (Greece)	Sep. 30, 2011 Revenues Customers concentration risk Hellenic Fire Brigade (Greece)	Sep. 30, 2012 Revenues Customers concentration risk US Forest Service	Sep. 30, 2011 Revenues Customers concentration risk US Forest Service	Sep. 30, 2012 Revenues Customers concentration risk US Forest Service	Sep. 30, 2011 Revenues Customers concentration risk US Forest Service	Sep. 30, 2012 Revenues Customers concentration risk Helicorp (Australia)	Sep. 30, 2011 Revenues Customers concentration risk Helicorp (Australia)
Accounts Receivable and Allowance for Doubtful Accounts
Trade accounts receivable	$ 48,994,000		$ 48,994,000		$ 26,432,000
Other receivables	1,953,000		1,953,000		572,000
Less: Allowance for doubtful accounts	(479,000)		(479,000)		(476,000)
Accounts receivable	50,468,000		50,468,000		26,528,000
Net recovery of bad debt expense	$ 100,000	$ 100,000	$ 0	$ 300,000
Concentration of risks
Concentration of risks, percentage							76.40%	52.50%	34.80%	18.90%	19.70%	11.30%	21.60%	10.60%	12.00%	72.00%	68.00%	60.30%	63.70%	14.10%	16.70%	14.30%	16.70%	13.00%	8.40%	16.50%	9.10%	44.90%	34.80%	32.20%	31.10%	5.40%	6.80%
Number of customers							4	3
Service agreements
Aerial firefighting service agreement term						3 years