The New York City Police Department’s elite Aviation Unit has added a new helicopter to its fleet of three Air-Sea-Rescue ships. The Bell 412EP can carry up to 10 people, including a pilot, co-pilot, crew chief and NYPD SCUBA divers or ESU officers, who are deployed according to mission.

An NYPD Air-Sea-Rescue team last February successfully searched for and rescued two West Point cadets who became stranded on Storm King Mountain in the dark, with winds of up to 50 mph. An Air-Sea-Rescue helicopter also was used to deploy NYPD SCUBA divers into the Hudson River after a U.S. Airways crash-landed there in January 2009.

Although its primary mission is air-sea rescues, the Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) thermal-imaging camera-equipped helicopter also will perform port security and conventional patrols above New York City up to 50 miles outside the city as emergencies require. The helicopter also contains NYPD-customized Mobile Aerial Radiological Surveillance (MARS) equipment which can detect, analyze, and track levels of radiation in the environment at various altitudes.

Aviation 22 is the third helicopter of its kind in service for the City. Its purchase is 75% funded through security grants and 25% through capital expenditures.

(YWN Desk – NYC)