The new Airbus H125 helicopter cost the county $5.6 million. The old helicopter cost the county $3.7 million.
Flagler County officials welcomed a new helicopter during a ceremony at Flagler Executive Airport on Wednesday and praised the work of the old helicopter, which saluted as it retired from service.
The new Airbus H125 helicopter will perform the same tasks as the current helicopter, including transporting accident victims or taking victims in need of urgent medical attention to hospitals. It will also play an important role in firefighting, said Michael Tucker, chief of the Flagler County Fire Department.
Like the old machine, the new helicopter will be named “FireFlight” and will continue to help fight fires in a county that was evacuated due to devastating wildfires in 1998. After those wildfires, the county purchased a helicopter that could help detect flames and then spray them with firefighting water.
“Many of the fires we respond to have been contained thanks to this helicopter, allowing us to put them out quickly,” Tucker said. “Sometimes we’ve actually discovered fires with this helicopter when we were doing our reconnaissance patrol after a storm.”
Tucker said the new helicopter cost the county $5.6 million. He said the county sold its 24-year-old helicopter for $650,000.
In its 22 years of service, the old helicopter flew 797 patients to trauma centers. Tucker said not all of those people survived, but their chances would have been even worse if the helicopter hadn’t been available.
“We gave the 797 families and victims a chance,” Tucker said sadly. “We are not in the business of guarantees. We guarantee nothing. But we are in the business of giving people chances.”
The helicopter was used 851 times to fight wildfires. It was also used 764 times to support law enforcement.
The company has carried out 282 search and rescue missions for missing persons, including children, the elderly and people lost at sea.
The helicopter brought the county $3.7 million, Tucker said.
The helicopter dropped more than 7.5 million litres of water on the wildfires, Tucker said.
After the service, the old helicopter was flown to its new owner in Sanford. The new and old helicopters flew past the airport before the previous helicopter flew away for good.
Flagler County Commission Chairman Andy Dance, who was just overwhelmingly re-elected, said people asked him about the new helicopter during the campaign.
“I remind them that this is probably the most important life-saving device we have here in the county,” Dance said. “It serves multiple purposes.”
The new helicopter features some improvements, said Todd Whaley, pilot and mechanic.
The helicopter has a more powerful camera system to search for suspects, missing people or children, Whaley said. He said it can almost read a license plate from 6 miles away. The camera can also detect slight temperature differences.
He said mobile phones had more technology than the camera system on old helicopters.
The new helicopter has a number of redundant systems to keep the engine running and it also has a more powerful engine.
“It’s much, much more advanced than the old machine,” Whaley said. “I’m excited to get into the fight with it and keep going for years to come.”
