SE-HIA

Information

This helicopter was the very first AS 350 in Sweden.

It held a close competition with Mora Helikopter's SE-HHS for the position, but HHS was stuck in Basel (Switzerland) due to bad weather during the delivery flight.

SE-HIA was purhased by Jämtlands Aero (1) in November of 1978 and the pilot Erik Vallo began his type rating in Marignane, France, on November 10. The delivery flight was initiated three days later and the helicopter made its very first landing in Sweden (at Malmö-Sturup Airport) on November 16. It arrived to the home base in Östersund on November 17. SE-HIA was brought to Sweden by Uno Stormo and Erik Vallo. It was put in service at once.

A true workhorse
SE-HIA was the 17:th Ecureuil ever constructed. The Ecureuil proved to be an extraordinary machine for the company's purposes and it was highly successful. The machine was involved in an accident at Mt Sylarna in November 1982 when a cargo sling was accidentally thrown into the main rotor. The helicopter was partly destroyed, but was restored by Borlänge based Sterner Aero AB in 1983. SE-HIA was returned to service in 1984. Sterner Aero had bought Jämtlands Aero in 1982, which made SE-HIA a part of the large Sterner fleet. Six years later, in July 1988, Sterner became Heliflyg and the machine was included in the deal. It was sold to Norway in 1993.

Returning to Sweden
This could have been the end for this pioneer, but it wasn't. In late December 2000 the Swedish company MogMac AB purchased the helicopter from the Norwegian heavy-lift Vaernes-based company Helitrans A/S. LN-OMY was re-registered in Sweden as SE-HIA in June 2003. A cooperation was soon opened with Jämtlands Flyg AB, which added SE-HIA to the current fleet of one Ecureuil, two Colibris and two Schweizer 300s. Jämtlands Flyg is a separate company from Jämtlands Aero (1). SE-HIA was repainted from Helitrans' blue/red/white colours to Jämtlands Flyg's all-red Ecureuil paint-scheme in April 2004.

The helicopter remained in Handöl, where it had operated on and off through the years.

SE-HIA returned to the Norwegian registry as LN-OMY in June 2006. It was operated by Helitrans, but was stationed in Handöl (Sweden). LN-OMY's activity in Handöl remained until July 2012, when it was replaced by LN-OAU (ex. SE-HRO) of HeliScan. Helitrans later utilized LN-OMY for topographic survey operations

Fatal accident in the Bay of Lübeck
LN-OMY was lost in an accident in the Bay of Lübeck on 5 December 2012. Two people lost their lives when the helicopter ended up in the water on a flight between Lübeck in Germany and Halmstad in Sweden. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is currently being examined by the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) in Braunschweig.