Small fire on a steep slope in Los Angeles above the Pacific Coast highway
Continue readingMiami-Dade Fire Rescue is refreshing their fleet with AW139 helicopters
They have received three of the four ordered so far
Continue readingInterview with a Los Angeles Fire Department helicopter pilot
Firefighting, rescues, and medical aids using an Agusta Westland 139
Continue readingIrish Air Corp AW139 assists villagers and firefighters in Ireland
Seven hours after the fire started the military approved the use of an AS139 helicopter to assist firefighters.
Continue readingVideo helps children learn about firefighting helicopters
In a comment below our article about the Los Angeles County Fire Department Air Operations program, Chris pointed us to this excellent video that introduces firefighting helicopters to young children, saying his two-year old is obsessed with it. It has commercials, but you can skip through most of them after a few seconds.
The video features Los Angeles Fire Department’s Leonardo AW139 intermediate twin engine helicopters. The department has six helicopters, four AW139’s and two Bell Jet Rangers.
Thanks Chris!
Italy purchases three AW139 helicopters
Will be used for fire suppression and search & rescue. There is an option to buy 12 more.
Continue readingIntroduction to the Los Angeles Fire Department helicopter program
AgustaWestland AW139. Screenshot from the LAFD video.The Los Angeles Fire Department(LAFD) aviation program started in 1962 with one Bell 47. Today they have six helicopters, four AgustaWestland AW139’s and two Bell Jet Rangers. To work as a pilot with the Department, you can’t simply walk in off the street. The minimum qualifications are:
- Private helicopter license,
- At least 100 hours of flight time in a helicopter, and,
- Four years experience as a firefighter with the LAFD.
Screenshot from the LAFD video.After a pilot is accepted into the program they are shipped over to the Los Angeles Police Department aviation program where they receive training with 150 hours of flight time, a commercial license, and an instrument rating. If successful there, they go back to the Fire Department and get another 200 flight hours of training. Then there is additional schooling at AgustaWestland to fly their 139.
The video below has much more information.
NTSB investigating LAFD helicopter tree strike
On June 20 the Los Angeles Fire Department announced their just-purchased helicopter, “Fire 4”, was en route to LA.The Los Angeles Fire Department is not saying much about an NTSB investigation into an accident that involved their brand new firefighting helicopter, Fire 4, an AW139 that they just put into service one or two months ago. On September 2 Fire 4 was making water drops on the La Tuna Fire in Los Angeles and struck a tree, according to a preliminary accident report by the FAA.
At least one person told NBC 4 in Los Angeles that while monitoring fire traffic on a scanner he heard the pilot say he hit something and put out a Mayday call. The pilot made a successful emergency landing at the Verdugo Hills High School football field.
File photo of Fire 4’s sister ship, Fire 3. Both are AW139’s. LAFD photo.You’ll probably want to click on full screen at bottom-right in the video below.
Heliweb has photos that appear to show small tree branches embedded in the damaged areas of the fuselage while the aircraft was parked on the football field. The helicopter apparently received substantial damage to the tail boom, stabilizers, and left side sponson/wheel housing. The left side stabilizer is missing in the photos.
L.A. City Council questions why maintenance issues prevented two helicopters from responding to a wildfire
A Los Angeles City Fire Department AW139 sits atop LAPD’s Hooper Heliport, still recognized today as the busiest heliport in the world. Photo by Ryan Mason.This article first appeared at Heliweb.com. It is used here with permission.
By Ryan Mason
Councilors from the Los Angeles City Council have demanded answers from the city’s general services department that is responsible for maintenance of both the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) A-Star fleet and the city’s fleet of Leonardo AW139’s and Bell 412 helicopters, giving administrators a two week deadline to outline why the backlog of maintenance occurred and to also detail any backlogs that exist regarding the fleets of the LAPD and Department of Water and Power for comparison.
Los Angeles City Fire is scheduled to receive another Aw139 in the coming months as the department cycles out the remainder of Bell 412 helicopters operated by the fire department for the much larger AW139 that is fitted with a belly tank for firefighting duties. the LAFD recently donated one of the departments Bell 412 helicopters to the LAPD to use for speacialty training and deployment that will likely fill the gap left when the department pulled their last remaining UH-1H from service several years ago.
The general services department released a statement late last week reaffirming their commitment to ensuring that all LAFD helicopters were returned to service as quickly as possible and that all backlogs would also be cleared as soon as they could be completed.