Police Air Wing
The Police Air Wing provides support services to frontline police, including deployment of police personnel, crime detection and prevention, search & rescue and medical transfers.
The current fleet is composed of:
- Helicopters
- one twin-engine Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin N3 for special operations, transport and rescue;
- one twin-engine Kawasaki BK117 for general operations and backup capability
- Fixed-wing
- one single-engine Cessna 182 Skylane
- two single-engine Pilatus PC-12
The Air Wing has a primary base at Jandakot Airport, in addition to a PC-12 being based Karratha Airport.
The Pilatus PC-12 is a single-engine turbo-prop aeroplane, which can carry a maximum of eight passengers 1800 km (as far as Broome). It can cruise up to a height of 30,000 ft (9,100 m) and can travel at approximately 500 km/h. The PC-12's primary role is to transport staff state-wide, but it can be utilised for search and rescue (SAR) and disaster relief efforts. The Cessna 182 is mainly used for surveillance and patrol work and can be fitted with a Leo400 FLIR unit. It is also used for inshore and land SAR searches.
The Kawasaki BK117 is a twin-engine helicopter, which has been upgraded to B2 specification. Purchased in 1990, and known as Polair 61, the aircraft’s role is police patrol, surveillance, search and rescue and officer deployment. It is fitted with a Star Safire III FLIR unit with downlink capabilities, Avalex digital recorder, Avalex moving map system, four monitors, Wulfsberg tactical radio, Nitesun searchlight and a double-lift 600 lb (270 kg) rescue winch. Forward Looking Infra-Red cameras track heat sources, such as a vehicle or human body in darkness and have a high-powered zoom video camera for daylight hours.
In September 2011, the Police Air Wing took delivery of a new Eurocopter AS365 N3 helicopter. The cost of the new helicopter has been reported at $13 million for the helicopter, plus $9 million of equipment enhancements including Forward Looking Infra-Red cameras, winches, and live surveillance with downlink capabilities to the Police Operations Centre. The AS365 is slated to replace the BK117 as the primary helicopter for WA Police, with the BK117 to be retained for backup capabilities, and was delivered in time for use during the CHOGM 2011.
Read more about this topic: Western Australia Police
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