The Martin County Sheriff’s Office showed the public their newest asset, an Airbus H125 that will patrol the skies over the county looking for the bad guys and assisting in public emergencies.
“The Martin County Sheriff’s Office and members of our community welcomed the new Airbus H125 to its new home in Martin County,” the department said. “Here in Martin County, our helicopters have become the backbone of our law enforcement efforts. Everything we do at the Sheriff’s Office is viewed through the lens of, “How do we keep Martin County safe?” This endeavor of finding a new helicopter for Martin County started 3 years ago as we analyzed our air assets and concluded that the useable lifespan of our current military surplus OH-58 helicopters was coming to an end.”
Previously, the department used a Vietnam-era helicopter and it became hard to get replacement parts for repairs the department said.
“The maintenance costs and the lack of available military parts for the 1970’s, Vietnam-era helicopter, made it abundantly clear, that the program had to give way to different equipment,” the department said. “In addition to the lack of available military parts, the military has no replacements that the Sheriff’s Office could utilize.The challenges we faced, forced us to purchase the Airbus H125, a civilian helicopter.”
The helicopter is fully equipped with state-of-the-art crime-fighting technology. In addition, the helicopter is outfitted with a rescue lift that will help us extricate victims in remote areas such as State Parks, Preserves, as well as offshore.
“This lifesaving capability did not exist in Martin County, until today,” the department said. “We would like to give a special thanks to our Aviation personnel who did the research and preparation for this helicopter, thank you to our Board of County Commissioners who supported us in this effort and the citizens of Martin County for their support!”