Virginia Beach's new helicopter to be flying soon

By Shawn Day

The Virginian-Pilot

virginia beach

City officials gathered Wednesday to unveil their newest tool for fighting crime, rescuing people and wooing businesses: a $2.9 million Bell 407 helicopter.

Police will begin using the craft for regular operations within weeks. By the end of the year, emergency medical service personnel will join the crew for rescues and transporting patients, Chief Jake Jacocks said.

The purchase makes Virginia Beach the only city in the area to own a helicopter equipped to care for and transport a patient, Jacocks said. The aircraft will be used as a backup for Sentara's Nightingale air ambulance service, Jacocks said.

"Only the ill-informed can look at this as a luxury," he told a crowd of 150 city leaders, police, paramedics and others inside a newly built hangar.

Mayor Meyera Oberndorf described the helicopter as a "blessing" for those in the city's rural sections, noting it would significantly reduce the time spent getting a patient to a hospital.

It also will be used to show investors an aerial view of the city, she said. The aircraft will be used to help other city departments too, she said. This is the third and largest Bell helicopter owned by the city.

The oldest, a 1981 Jet Ranger appraised two years ago for about $450,000, will be sold, Jacocks said. The other, also a Jet Ranger, will remain in service, he said.

Shawn Day, (757) 222-5131, shawn.day@pilotonline.com