SE-JIV

Information

This aircraft started its career at the Agusta production plant near Milan, Italy, back in 1994. It was exported to the Swedish Army the same year and was given the military registration 11332. The machine, which was the second in the line of five AB 412s delivered, was attached to the AF1 helicopter base in Boden and got the callsign Z-32. It was named "Claudia" after the legendary Italian actress Claudia Cardinale.

As the five new AB 412s (designated "HKP 11") arrived they replaced three temporary AB 412s that had been leased from Agusta 1993-1994 (11337, 11338 and 11339).

INTENDED FOR EMS
Back in 1990 the Parliament of Sweden put a tag on SEK 75 million (approx USD 12,3 million back then) in order to use them for the reinforcement of the EMS helicopter coverage in Sweden. At about the same time the Army experienced an evident lack of medevac capacities in warfare, and that was highlighted several times. The two situations led to a deal that meant that the Army got the EMS millions if they agreed to pay an equal amount of money in the purchase of a new helicopter type. The AB 412 was chosen and five machines were bought.
The deal stated that the helicopters would be available as EMS capacities in the civil society in peace and that they would be used for military medevac purposes in war. However, the Army experienced difficulties in signing contracts with the County Councils (which are responsible for local EMS), and the five helicopters stood unemployed. The first, and only, contract was signed with Västerbotten County Council, and it was active between February 1995 and December 2002.

Z-32 - "CLAUDIA"
Gina was operated at the Lycksele base as a regional civil EMS helicopter occasionally – switching places with her sister ships on a regular basis. When resting from the EMS service in Lycksele the helicopter type was used for transporting troops and operating other kind of tactical missions all around Sweden. It was, however, primarily an EMS resource.
As the Army Wing became a part of the joint Swedish Armed Forces Helicopter Wing in 1999 two HKP 11s were moved to the Linköping base. The establishment of the Helicopter Wing, which merged the helicopter operations of all the three military branches together, had no further impact on the HKP 11s.

The EMS activity in Lycksele was closed in the autumn of 2002 and the civil operator Lufttransport took over - employing an AS 365 N2 Dauphin (LN-OLJ).

The HKP 11 was cancelled in December 2004, after ten years in service. The four remaining NVG equipped and IFR capable Agusta-Bell 412 HPs were offered for sale. This one was sold to the German operator HDM Flugservice GmbH. It was transferred to Patria Helicopters' maintenance facility at Arlanda Airport in late-2005 and was modified for a future in the civilian world. The helicopter left the base for Germany in early-2006.

Once in Germany the retired workhorse was put through further modifications to become an Intensive Care unit of "Team DRF" (a German EMS organization). The aircraft started off its new career as EMS helicopter in Nürnberg.