Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Sheriff's Helicopter Hit By Bird, Makes Emergency Landing In Middle Of Del Amo Blvd

A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Helicopter is back at the Long Beach Airport today after making a precautionary landing in the middle of a busy Lakewood street last night. The landing was made after the crew heard a loud noise while in flight.

After setting down the American Euro Copter on Del Amo Blvd. between Paramount Blvd. and Cherry Ave. (within feet of Long Beach city limits) at around 8:50PM Sunday night, it was determined that the helicopter had collided with a bird.

"An outside check of the helicopter revealed that the loud noise was caused by a bird striking the fuselage [the cabin] above the pilot canopy,'' Aero Bureau Sgt. John Haughey said.

The helicopter sat on the pavement between a CVS Pharmacy and a Mobil gas station for about two hours, according the Department, while mechanics could come out and assess the damage. Haughey said that the helicopter was cleared to return to return to the Aero Bureau, located at the Long Beach Airport, at abouit 11PM, at which time the streets were reopened.

The forced landing caused no property damage or injuries on the ground, Haughey said.

The Cerritos-Artesia Patch also has some great video and photos from the scene.

Friday, October 19, 2012

AN-124 Visits LGB

Antonov Design Bureau Antonov AN-124M Ruslan UR-82008 (c/n 19530501006) arrived into Long Beach on Tuesday October 16th as ADB2164 at 720am from Winnipeg Int'l (CYWG). The aircraft brought in a satellite that will be launched by Sea Launch. The aircraft departed LGB on Thursday October 18th as ADB2166 at 1405 to Gander Int'l (CYQX). Below are some photos that were captured by Cabel Parker.





Tuesday, October 9, 2012

3 Super Puma Helicopters Acquired For Sheriff’s Department Air Rescue Squad

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A trio of smaller, faster and more powerful Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department helicopters are poised to take flight over Southern California.

Three previously-owned Eurocopter AS 332L1 Super Puma helicopters have been acquired by Los Angeles County for $31 million to staff the sheriff’s department’s Aero Bureau. The total acquisition, including training and parts, was $47 million, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Nicole Nishida said.

The helicopters are the latest in a long line of aircraft used for the Department’s Air Rescue-5 program, the rescue unit of the Aero Bureau. Since 1955, the Aero Bureau began with a Bell 47, making the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department one of the first law enforcement agencies on the West Coast to use helicopters. Piston-engine Sikorsky H-34 (military S-58) helicopters were acquired in the 1970’s, followed by turbine-powered Sikorsky S-58T’s.

The three new helicopters will replace three former United States Navy Sikorsky SH-3H Sea Kings that the department acquired in 1998 as parts and support for these aircraft became more expensive and difficult to obtain, according to Nishida.

“They look fantastic in person,” Nishida said. “They’re very sleek looking and are a little bit smaller than the old ones.”

The Super Puma is in fact about 25% smaller than the helicopters they are replacing, but carry the same number of people, sheriff’s officials said. They will be employed primarily as rescue aircraft, but their duties will also include SWAT insertions and extractions, Homeland Security support, maritime missions and personnel transport after natural disasters.

Once they are delivered, Nishida says these helicopters will be fully equipped the latest law enforcement technology. The choppers will be fitted with external hoists; nose-mounted, forward-looking infrared cameras – a first for a department rescue helicopter; night-vision compatible cockpits and multi-patient medical interiors.

For safety, these helicopters will be equipped with Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System/Terrain Awareness and Warning System (EGPWS/TAWS). The cockpits of these Super Pumas will also be equipped with GPS, instrument flight rules (IFR) capability and weather radar.
“The Super Pumas are equipped with advanced technological enhancements that will enable the Air Rescue 5 personnel to maintain the highest operational capability and the ability to fly in nearly all weather conditions,” Sheriff Lee Baca said in a statement.

Boeing sells 717 site in final Douglas Park land deal

LONG BEACH — Boeing Realty Corp. has sold the last parcel of the Douglas Park development by the Long Beach Airport that was once a center of aircraft manufacturing.

Irvine-based real estate company Sares Regis Group on Monday announced the acquisition of 160 acres, which with 33.6 acres the company already owned, gives it the lion's share of the 261-acre Douglas Park.

According to a press release, the group plans to develop the property with the potential for about 3.2 million square feet of premier office, industrial and retail facilities.

The purchase includes a 52-acre parcel on the site of the former Boeing 717 hangar at Lakewood Boulevard and Conant Street across from the airport.

Known for its iconic neon "Fly DC Jets" sign that is still on its rooftop, the building was shuttered in 2006 after the company ceased its commercial aircraft manufacturing there. The site consists of a 575,000-square-foot building and a 434,200-square-foot building.

"This is one of the largest and most exciting real estate purchases by Sares Regis Group," said Peter Rooney, president of Sares Regis Group's Commercial Investment Division, said in a news release. "Boeing has created a world-class master plan that has transformed the area into one of the most desirable new business locations in Southern California."

Terms of the acquisition, including the price, weren't immediately available.

Rooney couldn't be reached for further comment, and representatives with Boeing declined to comment Monday.

After plans for residential development at Douglas Park were cancelled years ago, recent commercial projects now planned include major industrial developments, a new hotel and a retail center.

Sares Regis has also moved forward with construction of a $95 million corporate headquarters development on the property it already owned, including seven industrial buildings on two separate parcels, to be called Pacific Pointe.

Nearby, developer Nexus Companies recently closed escrow on the purchase of 4.5 acres for a new Courtyard by Marriott hotel and 10,000 square feet of retail space.

Sares Regis' new 160 acres is made up of two 80-acre parcels and includes two former aviation production facilities.

The aircraft production hangars were built at the outset of World War II by Douglas Aircraft Co., whose workers turned out some 15,000 airplanes, including the legendary DC-3 transport and B-17 heavy bomber at the site.

"We have a long and gratifying relationship with Boeing and have enjoyed a very good working relationship with the City of Long Beach," Rooney said in the news release.

One of the 80-acre parcels includes two large aircraft hangars known as the 717 Facility. One of the hangars is topped by an iconic neon sign that reads "Fly DC Jets."

In 1997 McDonnell Douglas merged with The Boeing Co. Aircraft production at the facilities was ceased in 2006.

CBRE brokers Bob Smith, Brian DeRevere and John Schumacher represented both parties in the transaction.

(Kelsey Duckett - Press Telegram)