SE-JMP

Information

Manufactured year 1998
Call sign Swedcopter 908
Serial number 1008

Registration history

SE-JMP (? - Now)

Type history

Eurocopter EC 120B Colibri

Operator history

Svensk Pilotutbildning (? - Now)
Osterman Helicopter AB (? - Now)
Osterman Helicopter i Östersund AB (? - Now)
Siemens Financial Services AB (? - Now)
Bennys Gräv AB (? - Now)
STORM Heliworks / Copterflyg (? - Now)
HeliAir Sweden AB (? - Now)
HeliAir Sweden (? - Now)

Information

This helicopter was the eighth Colibri ever constructed by Eurocopter. It left the factory in Marseilles in early September 1998, and it made history being the first Swedish EC 120 when it landed at Osterman Helicopter's main base at Säve airport in Gothenburg on 2 September. The delivery pilot stroke his hand inside the exhaust pipe with a white glove in order to show how clean the aircraft was.

The brand new helicopter type came to be very common in Sweden for the next years to come. A majority of the companies replaced older Jet Rangers and Hughes 500s with new Colibris. Six years later, 25 EC 120s (only one pre-owned) had been imported. Jämtlands Flyg AB in Östersund held the highest level of EC 120 flight time worldwide the first years, and Osterman Helicopter AB was the largest Swedish Colibri operator - with 6 machines at the same time at the most.

Osterman's Colibris were used for various operations, including sling-load jobs, power line inspection, filming, census tasks, and so on.

A new version of Osterman Helicopter
SE-JMP was transferred into the refurbished company Osterman Helicopter i Östersund AB's fleet in November 2011. Its line of business was practically the same though.

Less than a year later, in September 2012, the helicopter left Osterman's fleet and joined HeliAir Sweden. Osterman Helicopter i Östersund AB went bankrupt a few days later. The helicopter was sold to a private owner in late October 2012. The owner, Bennys Gräv AB, owned a Long Ranger (SE-JMV) as well.

Copterflyg / STORM Heliworks
SE-JMP was added to Copterflyg's fleet in June 2013. The helicopter was leased from Bennys Gräv. Copterflyg had been acquired by Heliholding AB the same month, and it was restructured in line with the new sister company STORM Heliwork's commercial profile. STORM's main base was located in Östersund - the same city as JMP had been stationed in throughout large parts of its earlier career.

SE-JMP was introduced to sawing operations in the autumn of 2013. It was temporary shipped to Latvia to clear branches and trees near power lines in October 2013.

The helicopter left STORM Heliworks/Copterflyg in early 2014. It was returned to its owner in Malå. The aircraft was outlived by the Colibri SE-JVD, which had joined the fleet in late 2013.

Svensk Pilotutbildning
SE-JMP was leased to the Gothenburg flight school Svensk Pilotutbildning (SPU) starting from the summer of 2015. It replaced its former sister ship at Osterman Helicopter, SE-JEP, and joined a fleet of four R22s, one R44 and one other EC120.

The helicopter was moved to its new base at Gothenburg City Airport in August 2015. It was used for flight training together with SE-JLN until the spring of 2016.

HeliAir Sweden
SE-JMP was acquired by the large helicopter company HeliAir Sweden AB in May 2016. It became the first EC120 in a batch of several Colibris to join the fleet in a short time. In addition to the Colibris, the fleet consisted of three AS350s, five Hughes 500s, two Bell 206s and a Huey at that time. One if its Hughes 500s (SE-JPM) was offered for sale the same month the EC120 entered the fleet.

HeliAir is focused in various operations, including power line inspection, branch sawing, sling-load jobs, aerial filming, photo flights and air taxi.

Photos

Advertisement