Merseyside police helicopter
THE helicopter at RAF Woodvale is run by Merseyside Police’s air Support Group, which first began using helicopters in 1989 after an increase in the number of high-speed pursuits.
The current Merseyside Police helicopter is a Eurocopter EC135, right. It was bought by Merseyside Police with the help of Home Office funding, at a cost of £2.9m.
The helicopter was delivered on August 16, 2002, and is available for use 24 hours per day, seven days a week.
The helicopter team was based at Liverpool Airport for 12 years, but moved to RAF Woodvale due to the commercial developments around the airport. Its top cruise speed is 170mph and it can fly for 2½ hours. In September, the helicopter went up in the air more than 140 times. In August, there were more than 170 missions. In the last two months, it has helped police search for missing people and vehicles, track a robbery and helped police tackle thefts and firearms incidents.
