The North Midlands Helicopter Support Unit was a joint consortium established in 1998 to provide police aviation for Derbyshire Constabulary and Nottinghamshire Police. [1] [2] It was managed by John Jameson [3] and operated a Eurocopter EC135 from Derbyshire Constabulary's headquarters in Ripley, Derbyshire. [2]
Operations of the unit were taken over by the National Police Air Service (NPAS) in 2013. NPAS closed the unit in early 2016. [4]
The first aircraft operated by the unit was G-NMHS, a Eurocopter AS355 Écureuil 2 'Twin Squirrel'. [5] This aircraft served with the unit from 1998 to 2004 when it was replaced by G-NMID, a Eurocopter EC135 T2. [6]
Following the takeover of operations by NPAS G-NMID remained at the base until closure. It has since been refurbished and re-registered as G-POLD by NPAS. [7]
The EurocopterEC120 Colibri ("hummingbird") is a five-seat, single-engine, light utility helicopter. Jointly designed and developed by Eurocopter, China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC), Harbin Aviation Industries (Group) Ltd (HAIG) and Singapore Technologies Aerospace Ltd (STAero) at Eurocopter France's Marignane facility, the EC120B was assembled by Eurocopter in France and Australia.
Cheshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the English unitary authorities of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Halton and Warrington. The force is responsible for policing an area of 946 square miles (2,450 km2) with a population of approximately 1 million.
The Eurocopter EC135 is a twin-engine civil light utility helicopter produced by Airbus Helicopters. It is capable of flight under instrument flight rules (IFR) and is outfitted with a digital automatic flight control system (AFCS). First flying on 15 February 1994, it entered service in 1996 and 1,400 have been delivered up to September 2020 to 300 operators in 60 countries, accumulating over 5 million flight hours. It is mainly used for helicopter emergency medical services, corporate transport, law enforcement, offshore wind support, and military flight training. Half of them are in Europe and a quarter in North America. The H135M, certified under the name Eurocopter EC635, is a military variant.
The Air Support Unit (ASU) was a Central Operations branch of London's Metropolitan Police Service. The main responsibility of the unit was to provide aerial reconnaissance and other air support operations. Helicopters are particularly useful in aiding searches for missing persons, car pursuits, suspect capture and large public order operations such as football matches. The ASU also supported other emergency services, including the London Fire Brigade, London Ambulance Service and Marine Coastguard. On 31 March 2015, the National Police Air Service took over providing air support to the Metropolitan Police Service. This resulted in the closure of the Metropolitan Police Air Support Unit.
The Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil, now Airbus Helicopters H125, is a single-engine light utility helicopter originally designed and manufactured in France by Aérospatiale and Eurocopter. In North America, the AS350 is marketed as the AStar. The AS355 Ecureuil 2 is a twin-engine variant, marketed in North America as the TwinStar. The Eurocopter EC130 is a derivative of the AS350 airframe and is considered by the manufacturer to be part of the Écureuil single-engine family.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England.
The Westpac Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter Service is a helicopter surf lifesaving service that operates in Australia.
The Eurocopter EC145 is a twin-engine light utility helicopter developed and manufactured by Airbus Helicopters. Originally designated as the BK 117, the H145 is based upon the MBB/Kawasaki BK 117 C1, which became a part of the combined Eurocopter line-up in 1992 with the merger of Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm's helicopter division of Daimler-Benz into Eurocopter. The helicopter was earlier named EC145; an updated version, EC145 T2, was renamed H145 in 2015.
The Chiltern Air Support Unit was a police helicopter unit that operated under a consortium agreement between Bedfordshire Police, Thames Valley Police and Hertfordshire Police until 1 October 2012, when it merged into the National Police Air Service.
The North East Air Support Unit was the main aerial support for police forces in north east England. It has since been replaced by the National Police Air Service, which provides borderless police aviation support across England and Wales.
Police aviation in United Kingdom provides British police forces with an aerial support unit to assist them in pursuit, surveillance and tracking. All police aviation in England and Wales comes under the National Police Air Service (NPAS), while Police Scotland and the Police Service of Northern Ireland operate independent units.
The Airbus Helicopters H225 is a long-range passenger transport helicopter developed by Eurocopter as the next generation of the civilian Super Puma family. It is a twin-engined aircraft and can carry up to 24 passengers along with two crew and a cabin attendant, dependent on customer configuration. The helicopter is marketed for offshore support and VIP passenger transport duties, as well as public service missions.
The police forces in the UK use a wide range of operational vehicles including compact cars, powerful estates and armoured police carriers. The main uses are patrol, response, tactical pursuit, and public order policing. Other vehicles used by British police include motorcycles, aircraft, and boats.
The Airbus Helicopters H175 is a 7-ton class medium utility helicopter produced by Airbus Helicopters. In China, the H175 is produced by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) as the Avicopter AC352. Originally launched as the Eurocopter EC175 and the Harbin Z-15, it has been referred to as being a 'super-medium' helicopter.
Mission Critical Services Offshore is a British helicopter operator, specialising in providing offshore helicopter transportation services to North Sea and Irish Sea oil and gas platforms.
The Cleveland Air Operations Unit (CAOU) was the air support/operations unit for the Cleveland Police force. It has since been replaced with the national asset to police: National Police Air Service (NPAS)
Bond Aviation Group was a British helicopter operator based at Gloucestershire Airport, Staverton. It was purchased by Babcock International in 2014. It incorporated Bond Air Services, now renamed Babcock Mission Critical Services Onshore, and Bond Offshore Helicopters, now renamed Babcock Mission Critical Services Offshore.
Babcock Mission Critical Services Onshore, formerly Bond Air Services, is an operator of air ambulance, police, and offshore windfarm helicopters in the UK. Babcock operates a mixed fleet of light twin-engine helicopters custom designed to perform specific and specialised tasks. It operates from 22 bases around the UK and in Ireland. It has maintenance facilities in Staverton and Glasgow.
The East Midlands Air Support Unit was a joint consortium established to provide police aviation for Leicestershire Constabulary, Northamptonshire Police and Warwickshire Police. It was formed in April 1994 and operates a Eurocopter EC135 from Sulby, near Welford in Northamptonshire.
The National Police Air Service (NPAS) is a police aviation service that provides centralised air support to the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, as well the three special police forces serving that area. It replaced the previous structure whereby police forces operated their own helicopters, either individually or in small consortia. The project was coordinated by Alex Marshall. West Yorkshire Police is the lead force, and the service is coordinated from the NPAS Operations Centre, at Wakefield, West Yorkshire.
| Territorial police forces | |
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| National | |
