First Bell 429 handed over to the Swedish Police

On the first of October Bell Helicopter Textron formally handed over the first of seven brand new Bell 429s to the Swedish National Police. The hand-over ceremony, which was held at Bell Helicopter's facilities, followed less than 15 months after the purchase agreement was signed at the large Farnborough Exhibition in the UK in July 2014.
The helicopter will replace the current fleet of EC135s, which in their turn replaced Bell Jet/Long Rangers back in 2001. The formal decision to replace the six EC135s, and to expand the fleet to a total of seven operative helicopters, was formally made by National Police Chief Bengt Svenson in September 2012. The seventh aircraft aimed to substitute for an aircraft lost in an accident back in 2007 (SE-HPS).

The Swedish Police Wing has operated helicopters since 1964, when operations began on Bell 47s, with SE-HDP being first one. Several Bell 206 Jet Rangers were added to the organisation in the 60s and 70s, and between 1979 and 1982 the Police Wing introduced Bell Long Rangers in order to modernize its fleet. By year 2000 the Swedish National Police operated four Long Rangers, three Jet Rangers and one Bell 47. These aircraft were all replaced by a batch of brand new Eurocopter EC135 P2s in 2001. A Jet Ranger remained in the organisation for flight training purposes. The new Bell 429s are now opening a new chapter in Swedish police aviation.