SE-JOJ

Information

This helicopter was constructed in 2007 and was acquired by the recognized Swedish SAR & HEMS operator Norrlandsflyg AB. It was converted to a rescue helicopter by the American maintenance company Keystone Helicopter Corporation in Pennsylvania. Once completed the helicopter came to be stored at Keystone’s facility together with the sister ship SE-JOB for a period of time.

The helicopters were eventually delivered to Sweden by plane and trucks in the autumn of 2008. They were reassembled at Norrlandsflyg’s maintenance base at Gothenburg City Airport (Säve). SE-JOJ was assigned to the Sundsvall base in order to replace the S-76C SE-JUY as rescue helicopter in the Bothnian Sea. The helicopter entered service as Lifeguard 906 in early 2009.

The Sundsvall helicopter was soon moved to the temporary base in Skellefteå (early-2010) in order to provide a fast response to the Gulf of Bothnia.

On 1 November 2011 the Swedish Maritime Administration acquired all the stocks in Norrlandsflyg's parent company Scandinavian Helicopter Invest (SHI). The new helicopter division was named SMA Helicopter Rescue, which became a
subsidiary to Sjöfartsverket Holding (administered by the Swedish Maritime Administration). All the SAR helicopters were included in the deal. The purchase also involved the EMS helicopters SE-JUC and SE-JEZ. SMA Helicopter Rescue was formally incorporated in the Swedish Maritime Administration on 22 January 2014.

The SAR station in Skellefteå was moved to a newly built hangar at Umeå Airport in April 2012. The S-76 was eventually replaced by an AW139 at the Umeå SAR Station in April 2014. It spent its last year touring between the remaining SAR stations in Sweden.

Retirement
SE-JOJ (Lifeguard 906) became the very last S-76 in search and rescue service in Sweden. It maintained the SAR alert at the Gothenburg station until the helicopter was replaced by an AW139 in early June 2015. One of the last missions (to check a faulty distress squawk by the EC120 SE-JEP) was performed just a few days prior to its retirement.