Police Aviation News June 2011

Police Aviation News June 2011 3
The OPP has owned and operated two helicopters
in its fleet since 1974 to support fulfilling of its provincial
mandate which includes providing support
for specialized teams, surveillance, drug eradication,
searches, suspect apprehension pursuits and
regional traffic and crime initiatives. Approximately
65 per cent of all OPP helicopter missions deal with
search and rescue operations. The OPP helicopters
are based in Orillia and Sudbury respectively.
Over the past 20 years, OPP pilots have logged a
combined total flying time of approximately 20-
thousand hours on the retiring helicopters. The
OPP also has a fixed wing fleet consists of a Pilatus
PC12/45 based at the Thunder Bay Airport and
a Cessna C206T based at the Lake Simcoe Regional
Airport. These are operated by eleven full-time pilots, three part-time pilots, three
maintenance engineers and six part-time Tactical Flight Officers mainly within Ontario, although
the fixed-wing aircraft can be assigned to missions anywhere in North America.
Overall the OPP fleet accrues approximately 2,500 – 3,000 hours of flight time annually.
[OPP/Helihub]
CHINA
HENAN: A new turbine powered Robinson R66 has been noted delivered to China. No
official announcement has been made relating to this historical event but the helicopter is
registered in the police series of marks which are allocated to Henan Province. The R66 is
marked G-411201. [Helihub]
SHENZHEN: Early last month an official handover ceremony was held between
Shenzhen Police, Avic International and AgustaWestland for the formal acceptance of the
second police helicopter of Shenzhen. The AW139 will help enhance the security protection
and fulfil the task of winch rescues, fire-fighting, low-level patrol and major event surveillance
offering camera sensors and video image transmission.
The AW139 will work alongside their first helicopter, an AW109E G-440201, delivered in
2004 and will enhance 24/7 availability. To date the Shenzhen Police AW109 has flown a
modest 773 hours in the six years it has been operated and that included coverage of the
Olympic Torch Relay in Guangdong Province in 2008.