The Lee County Sheriff’s Office in Ft. Myers, Fla., found something special beneath its Christmas tree. On December 18 last year, Airbus Helicopters delivered a new H125 AStar to the agency, increasing its AStar fleet to three rotorcraft. The sheriff’s office is installing a hoist on the new AStar, the better to fulfill its role in law enforcement and searches for lost or missing persons, as well as coastal search and rescue. Hangar One, Carlsbad, Calif., is conducting the full law enforcement completion.
With its single Turbomecca Arriel 2D turboshaft, the H125 (formerly AS350 B3e) is popular in the law enforcement duty. Now built at the Airbus factory in Columbus, Miss., more than 225 are in service nationwide. One of Lee County’s two other AStars is a preowned model that recently underwent a 12-year inspection and upgrade at Airbus Helicopters’ MRO facility in Grand Prairie, Texas. “We have a long relationship with Airbus Helicopters, and they have given us the support we need to keep our helicopters in the air,” said Michael Warner, Lee County Sheriff’s Office aviation division commander.
The single-engine H125 has dual hydraulics; dual-channel Fadec engine controls; 30-minute takeoff power; and modern glass-panel avionics.