06593

Information

This aircraft was constructed in 1975 and spent its first 13 years in the US. It was imported to Sweden by the Bell dealer Ostermans Aero AB in 1988 and put in service with the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration. The aircraft was operated at the military Vidsel Test Range in northern Sweden with a civil registration until 1994, when it was transferred into the military system as an HKP6C (the only C model that ever existed) with registration 06593 and the callsign V-94.
The helicopter was moved to Försökscentralen (FC) at 4 Hkpbat. in Linköping in 2001, but was eventually sold to Patria Ostermans AB (later Patria Helicopters).

Patria registered the aircraft as SE-HON in 2004 and sold it to Roslagens Helikopterflyg, which put it in use in its flight school Proflight Nordic AB, where it still remains today.

Helicopter robbery
SE-HON was stolen from Roslagens Helikopterflyg’s facilities in Norrtälje on the night between 22 and 23 September 2009. The aircraft was used in a high-profile bank robbery of the company G4S Cash Services’ money deposit at Västberga in downtown Stockholm the same morning. The intruders landed the aircraft on the roof of the deposit, collected tens of millions in SEK (several millions in EUR) and left the same way as they came.
The helicopter was later found abandoned, but without any damages, in a forest near Arninge in the northern parts of Stockholm. This was the first robbery involving a helicopter in Swedish history.

SE-HON was transported by truck to Patria Helicopters’ maintenance facilities at Arlanda Airport and was returned to Roslagens Helikopterflyg as soon as the machine had gone through a forensic investigation and a major maintenance overhaul. It soon returned to service as a flight trainer in Norrtälje.