Pilot shortage means less time in the air for city’s police helicopter
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/04/2012 (5266 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Winnipeg’s police helicopter has been spending more time on the ground this year after three pilots left.
This morning, Winnipeg Police Chief Keith McCaskill gave members of council’s protection and community services committee an update on the helicopter following recent reports of the aircraft being grounded due to maintenance issues and a pilot-staffing shortages.
Chief McCaskill said police have only had one full-time pilot flying the helicopter for the past three weeks. Ideally, he said there should be three.
The chief said police are working to hire two additional pilots. One has already been hired, he said, and will be ready to fly by early June.
Chief McCaskill said police are also working to recruit a chief pilot to organize and manage operations. “We need those extra two pilots, and we’re moving forward,” he said this morning.
He said a total of three pilots have left due to medical and family issues. While he said the “personnel issues” will restrict police’s ability to use the helicopter in the coming weeks, McCaskill said the helicopter is still an effective policing tool.
“For a police service the size of ours it’s an exceptional tool,” he said. “Obviously, the more it’s in the air, the better.”
The helicopter first took to the air 16 months ago.
The city and province have a deal in place to fund the helicopter until December 2013. At that point, a review of the operations is supposed to take place, provincial officials said.
Police said they would include a review of the helicopter’s first year of operations within the police annual report.
McCaskill said the report will be complete in the near future.