Police, mayor push for new $13.5-M chopper

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This article was published 15/01/2025 (284 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A city police report is recommending a new $13.5-million helicopter be cleared for takeoff, with the current aging chopper outdated.

The report, on the city’s executive policy committee’s agenda for next week, recommends council approve a contract to provide a lease-to-own Airbus H125 helicopter from Calgary firm Eagle Copters, replacing the current Airbus H120, purchased in 2010 for $3.5 million.

The estimated $13,481,100 price tag (PST and GST extra, as applicable) is based on a monthly lease of $74,895 for 180 months (roughly $900,000 annually for 15 years) from the contract start date.

The bid is open for acceptance until the end of the month. After that, the matter would have to be re-tendered, with price escalations six to eight per cent on the base aircraft (US$3.8 million) expected.

Costs associated with the initial lease period are included in the Winnipeg Police Service’s 2025-2028 budget, which requires adoption by council to replace the 15-year-old aircraft.

The report suggests the production, customization and delivery of the new aircraft would take 18 to 24 months, “meaning action should be taken as soon as possible to strategically coordinate aircraft replacement,” the report’s author, WPS chief pilot Malcolm Murray, wrote.

Winnipeg mayor Scott Gillingham, speaking at an unrelated event on Wednesday, acknowledged the significant cost but said it would be worth it.

“I’ll be supporting their request for the lease-to-own,” he said. “When I campaigned, I committed to keeping the helicopter in the air. There is value in ensuring that our Winnipeg Police Service has the tools necessary to do the work they’re doing to try and keep our city safe.

“It’s been shown time and again, police have been clear on that, the value the police helicopter provides.”

Gillingham added in the long term, he’d like to see the WPS look into ways to incorporate drones.

The new aircraft is said to be louder than the one it would replace, and that the flight ops unit will continue to use “best practices” to mitigate the sound while airborne over the city.

Coun. Markus Chambers, who chairs the Winnipeg Police Board, also threw his support behind the new helicopter.

“When you look at the age of the existing helicopter, the cost to replace parts that are needed to keep it up in the air are getting more expensive and are harder to find,” he said.

Chambers said the price to lease-to-own is “a little bit” cheaper than the cost to buy the chopper outright.

“When you look at the Flight Operations Unit report … and how much it’s deployed, certainly there is use for it and having a new helicopter will allow us to continue in that vein.”

Police have long lauded the chopper’s effectiveness on crime, citing its ability to cross the city’s airspace in minutes, allowing “eyes” on active events from up to 15 kilometres away.

According to 2023 operational data, Air 1 spent 864.4 hours over 220 days in the air and was dispatched to 1,941 calls, of which 1,459 were deemed high-risk, including 100 vehicle chases.

The helicopter is credited with locating 401 people in 2023, including 200 involved in an alleged criminal event. It also aided in 14 searches for missing persons and 44 individuals deemed to be at risk of self-harm.

Air 1 also helped the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service on 34 fires, providing top-down video for fire crews.

The aircraft was grounded for 64 days due to maintenance in 2023, along with another 60 days for weather and 21 days due to staffing.

City police began shopping for a new helicopter in October.

Brian Miln, WPS superintendent of operational support, said then that replacement parts were becoming increasingly hard to find and worried that failure of a significant part could ground Air 1 for an extended period of time, with lead times on replacing some parts approaching a year.

“As time passes, that risk, for sure, increases,” he said.

The current helicopter is scheduled for a hefty overhaul of major components in 2027.

The report says that ordering the chopper in the first quarter of 2025 would ensure an expected delivery in mid-to-late 2026.

The report also suggests that the Airbus H125 has been adopted worldwide, meaning replacement parts would be more readily available throughout its lifespan.

The RCMP, and police services in Calgary, Edmonton and York, Ont., use the same platform, it said.

Additionally, the imaging system purchased by the city in 2023 for the current aircraft is compatible with the one police have their eyes on.

The city will also save on training and insurance, according to the report, as the chief pilot, one of two line pilots and the aircraft maintenance engineer are certified to pilot and work on the new model.

Once the WPS took delivery of the new aircraft, the old one would be parted out for sale.

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca