Established 1972, the Kern County Sheriff's Department Air Support Unit serves a populated area of 900,000 people which includes the city of Bakersfield.
It began with a new Bell 47 which was used until crashed in 1975 fortunately without victims. It was replaced by a Hughes 500C but in 1978 the unit was deactivated due lack of funding. Six years later, in 1984, was reactivated with a leased Bell 206 which was replaced by 2 new MD500E in 1987. In 1997, 2 ex army OH-58A+ Kiowas joined the unit and in 2008 they get their first medium helicopter, a Huey II
It began with a new Bell 47 which was used until crashed in 1975 fortunately without victims. It was replaced by a Hughes 500C but in 1978 the unit was deactivated due lack of funding. Six years later, in 1984, was reactivated with a leased Bell 206 which was replaced by 2 new MD500E in 1987. In 1997, 2 ex army OH-58A+ Kiowas joined the unit and in 2008 they get their first medium helicopter, a Huey II
Kern County Sheriff orders two Airbus H125 to replace current MD500E helicopters. KCSO is sending back the 2 Bell OH-58 to the Dept of Defense, when the 2 Airbus H125 arrive. N497 is flyable, while N397E is use for parts. KCSO is keeping the 2 MD 500E N197E and N297E and buys new helicopters for $12 million
News about Kern County Sheriff's Office |
Two Airbus H125 for Kern County Sheriff
14-Mar-22 - California Kern County Sheriff orders two Airbus H125 to replace current MD500E helicopters #california
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Kern County Sheriff's Office List of helicopters |
C/N | Version | Built | In this Org | In other Org | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0196E | md500e | 1986 | N197E : County of Kern at Bakersfield, CA from 1987;
Kern County Sheriffs Dept (K+ | ||||
0197E | md500e | 1986 | N297E : County of Kern at Bakersfield, CA from 1987;
Kern County Sheriffs Dept (+ | ||||
40993 | oh-58a | N397E : Kern County Sheriffs Dept (KCSD) from May97;
Nov18 still | 70-15442 | ||||
40596 | oh-58a | N497E : Kern County Sheriffs Dept (KCSD) from Jul97 : 27mar14 KCSD hard landing near Highway 58 east of Tehatchapi, CA | 69-16375 | ||||
12596 | uh-1h | N597E : County of Kern at Bakersfield, CA from Sep08;
Kern County Sheriff (KCSD);
+ | 70-16291 | ||||
9252 | h125 | 2022 | N912KC : Kern County Sheriffs Office | N912KC |