SE-HPP

Information

This helicopter was constructed by Bell Helicopter Textron back in 1982. It was imported to Sweden by the legendary Bell agent Ostermans Aero AB the same year. The machine was the last helicopter of a batch of 4 Long Rangers employed by the national police between 1979 and 1982. It was leased from Ostermans by the national police and given the callsign Polis 945.

The enrolment of the Long Rangers was a result of an increasing amount of ambulance helicopter transports in the country. By the end of the 70s the police held a fleet of eight helicopters - three Bell 47s and five Bell 206 Jet Rangers. The machines lacked power and were too small for an effective HEMS activity. The first Long Ranger, SE-HPL, was equipped for IFR operations and was based at the Stockhom base at Barkaby Airfield. The next two machines, SE-HPM and SE-HPO, were based at Gothenburg and Boden. As SE-HPP arrived in 1982 it accompanied SE-HPL at the Stockholm base. The new machines replaced five older helicopters.

SE-HPP was leased from Ostermans for several years, but was finally purchased by the police in 1993.

The helicopter lost its sister in early 2001 as SE-HPL was destroyed in a non-fatal crash.
It had a great deal of luck a year later as the most destructive event in national helicopter history struck the national police. The machine, still based at Stockholm, was on a mission in northern Sweden when its home base was totally eradicated by an immense fire on February 7 2002 – destroying three helicopters and an airplane.

The national police had decided to replace its current fleet of Bell helicopters with seven brand new twin engine Eurocopter EC 135 P2 helicopters. The first one (SE-HPR) arrived in mid-2001, but was tragically lost in the fire. The next two EC 135s arrived in November of 2001. SE-HPP was the first helicopter to be sold. It was dismantled and exported to Australia in boxes in May of 2003.