San Diego receives new Firehawk helicopter

San Diego Fire-Rescue Firehawk helicopter new
A new Sikorsky S-70i has been outfitted as a Firehawk by United Rotorcraft for San Diego Fire-Rescue. Photo by Erick Lama.

San Diego Fire-Rescue is adding a Sikorsky S-70i to their aerial firefighting fleet. After being retrofitted by United Rotorcraft it was delivered at Montgomery Field (map) November 23, 2019. It is now known as a Firehawk after being reconfigured with an aerial firefighting mission package including extended landing gear, a 1,000 gallon firefighting tank, and a retractable snorkel system. The FAA registration number is N283SD.

San Diego has two other firefighting helicopters, a Bell 212 (N800DM) and a Bell 412EP (N807JS) manufactured in 1980 and 2008, respectively. The Fire-Rescue Department has two registration numbers reserved to be used later, N281SD and 282SD.

San Diego Fire-Rescue Firehawk helicopter new
A new Sikorsky S-70I has been outfitted as a Firehawk by United Rotorcraft for San Diego Fire-Rescue. Photo by Erick Lama.

In June, 2018 the S-70i was ferried from Sikorsky’s manufacturing plant in Coatesville, Pennsylvania to Decatur, Texas where it was painted in United Rotorcraft’s facility. The rest of the Firehawk conversion was done by United Rotorcraft in Englewood, Colorado.

All of the Firehawk photos above were taken by Eric Lama, United Rotorcraft’s program manager on the Firehawk.

San Diego Fire-Rescue S70I Firehawk
The San Diego Fire-Rescue S-70i before it was painted and retrofitted. June, 2018.
San Diego Fire-Rescue Firehawk helicopter new
A new Sikorsky S-70i has been outfitted as a Firehawk by United Rotorcraft for San Diego Fire-Rescue. Photo by Erick Lama November 13, 2019.

The San Diego Police Department presently has four Eurocopter AS 350B3 helicopters manufactured in 2006 which they expect to replace in the foreseeable future at a cost of about $21 million, the LA Times reported November 20, 2019:

The City Council this week approved a five-year agreement with Airbus Helicopters to immediately buy one helicopter for $4.6 million and purchase three more for $5.5 million each before the deal ends in 2024.

City officials stressed that the council will be required to approve each of the additional helicopter purchases and that the purchases will be based on whether the city has adequate resources at the time.

The plan to replace all four helicopters is based on recommendations from a consulting firm that analyzed the city’s helicopter fleet in 2017.

San Diego PD will replace the four helicopters with Airbus H125s, which is basically an updated version of the 350B3.

CAL FIRE’s acquisition of new helicopter fleet still up in the air

CAL FIRE Firehawk
Model of CAL FIRE Firehawk, by Sikorsky. Photo by Bill Gabbert.

After several false starts over several years, CAL FIRE selected a variant of the Blackhawk to replace its aging fleet of 12 Super Huey firefighting helicopters, but that acquisition is stalled. In what appeared to be the final hurdle an administrative law judge ruled in December against a protest filed by a competing company clearing the way for CAL FIRE to purchase up to 12 new Sikorsky S-70i’s (Firehawks), from Air Methods/United Rotorcraft (AMUR).

When the effort began years ago to replace the fleet of aircraft that is now at the end of its useful life, the legislature was told each new helicopter would cost around $12 million, but they realized the price could escalate. The new Firehawks will run $24 million each with the additional features recently added by CAL FIRE and the Department of General Services.

Below is an excerpt from an article in the Sacramento Bee:

The Governor’s Office and Cal Fire are ready to start buying the new machines. “We believe we have provided the Legislature with all the necessary and requested information to move forward on this project,” Finance Department spokesman H.D. Palmer said.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Jim.
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