Omaha Police Helicopter

Post by **Brad** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 2:38 pm

Sad Day....

OPD Helicopter ‏@OPDABLE1
@OPDABLE1 will no longer be monitored, thanks to all the friends we've met the past few years and the continued support of #Opd tweeters

I always like Able1's tweets!

jessep28 · Post by **jessep28** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 7:24 pm

They tweeted this a few hours later:

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@OPDABLE1 wrote:Our Able 1 account will remain unmonitored until tomorrow (Feb. 11) pm. We are looking forward to resuming activity in the near future.

Post by **Brad** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 10:02 pm

Wonder if the origional pilot that tweeted quit or something?

jessep28 · Post by **jessep28** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 10:23 pm

Brad wrote:Wonder if the origional pilot that tweeted quit or something?

That would be my guess. A social media lockdown on individual accounts for public relations or officer safety reasons also comes to mind, but I don't see any evidence of that.

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Thu Feb 26, 2015 10:29 pm

A vehicle came over the border from Iowa on a high speed chase and Able1 is up following the guy who is now on foot, around Midtown Crossing.

Post by **Brad** » Fri Mar 16, 2018 10:26 pm

Saw on Facebook that OPD Able 1 might move it’s operations from the North Omaha Airport to the Blair Airport. Anyone have any more details?

debradomayer · Post by **debradomayer** » Sat Mar 17, 2018 5:17 pm

Brad wrote:Saw on Facebook that OPD Able 1 might move it’s operations from the North Omaha Airport to the Blair Airport. Anyone have any more details?

I know that one of the pilots lives in Blair. It makes more sense to me that they move to Millard or they could always build a hangar at the training academy on Rainwood

jessep28 · Post by **jessep28** » Sat Mar 17, 2018 9:27 pm

The residents around that training academy are huge NIMBY's. When a new outdoor gun range was proposed, they went as far as hiring an attorney to oppose it. I don't know how those complaints were resolved. I highly doubt that heliport would go in there without a fight.

Post by **Brad** » Mon Mar 19, 2018 8:50 am

jessep28 wrote:The residents around that training academy are huge NIMBY's. When a new outdoor gun range was proposed, they went as far as hiring an attorney to oppose it. I don't know how those complaints were resolved. I highly doubt that heliport would go in there without a fight.

The only issue I see is that its outside Douglas County.

Other than that, its already an airport so they wouldn't even need to get public input. Also, its a busy airport so this wouldn't really add much additional noise. I see some decent sized jets up there from time to time.

debradomayer · Post by **debradomayer** » Mon Mar 19, 2018 1:06 pm

My source told me that there was some discussion, but it probably won't happen

GetUrban · Post by **GetUrban** » Mon Mar 19, 2018 2:43 pm

Did they say why they would want to move away from the North Omaha Airport? (3NO) Maybe they need a more extensive maintenance facility or a new larger hangar?

GrandpaaSmucker · Post by **GrandpaaSmucker** » Mon Mar 19, 2018 5:15 pm

GetUrban wrote:Did they say why they would want to move away from the North Omaha Airport? (3NO) Maybe they need a more extensive maintenance facility or a new larger hangar?

The North Omaha airport is an absolute dump. The Blair airport is kind of nice. What more reason do they need.

GetUrban · Post by **GetUrban** » Mon Mar 19, 2018 9:52 pm

GrandpaaSmucker wrote:
GetUrban wrote:Did they say why they would want to move away from the North Omaha Airport? (3NO) Maybe they need a more extensive maintenance facility or a new larger hangar?
The North Omaha airport is an absolute dump. The Blair airport is kind of nice. What more reason do they need.

How about proximity to Omaha? Blair airport is only about 8 miles northwest of 3NO though, roughly between 120th & 132nd.

OmahaFan · Post by **OmahaFan** » Sun Apr 08, 2018 6:22 am

I think the current location for the Omaha police helicopter is suitable. What I really want to see the police department do though is look into getting a new headquarters they could technically look at the Civic center site. Great place to build a state of the art police HQ and they could add business around it since the space is probably big enough for it. Though I highly doubt the police dept would go for that.

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Sun Jun 03, 2018 3:37 pm

And now they get this:

image.jpeg

debradomayer · Post by **debradomayer** » Tue Oct 16, 2018 8:21 pm

Have had it confirmed by 2 Omaha Police Dept officials that Able 1 will indeed be moving to the Blair Airport although no time frame was given. The current hangar is literally falling apart. And they also intend on moving the outdoor shooting range from Elkhorn to the training facility in the near future.

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Thu Jul 11, 2019 9:12 pm

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bigredmed1 · Post by **bigredmed1** » Fri Jul 12, 2019 11:28 am

Wonder why Blair and not Millard?

Mr.Nuke · Post by **Mr.Nuke** » Tue Jul 16, 2019 1:16 pm

bigredmed1 wrote: Fri Jul 12, 2019 11:28 am Wonder why Blair and not Millard?

Presumably available hanger space, and probably more importantly from a community relationship standpoint not waking up people living on top of the airport in the middle of the night. Millard doesn't see all that much traffic at "odd" hours.

Post by **Brad** » Wed Feb 12, 2020 8:24 am

Omaha police will buy new (used) $2.7 million helicopter after losing two in crashes

https://www.omaha.com/news/local/omaha- ... a8815.html

Reece Ristau / World-Herald staff writer wrote:The City Council on Tuesday approved the purchase of a $2.7 million helicopter that city and Police Department leaders say is necessary to adequately police the city.

Reece Ristau / World-Herald staff writer wrote:The department most likely will search for a third helicopter, Peck told the council. Omaha had four police helicopters in the late 1990s; at least three are necessary, Peck said.

Peck said the helicopter won’t be in Omaha until the spring at the earliest.

Bosco55David · Post by **Bosco55David** » Thu Mar 05, 2020 12:28 pm

Good move. The 407GX is a far more capable aircraft than the OH-58 and 206L-4 it is replacing.

Post by **Brad** » Tue Feb 25, 2025 1:41 pm

I noticed on flight radar 24 there is a N505BT flying around. That comes back to a Bell 505 Jet Ranger X. Its flying around like a police helicopter would so I googled "New Omaha Police Helicopter" and sure enough, the city approved the purchase of a new Police Helicopter back in December. Not sure when it arrived, but the flight data goes back to 2/18 so at least a week ago, but could be longer. I'm guessing "N505BT" will be re-numbered similar to the other two police helicopters, N402PD and N420PD.

Mr.Nuke · Post by **Mr.Nuke** » Sun Mar 02, 2025 2:52 pm

Brad wrote: Tue Feb 25, 2025 1:41 pm Not sure when it arrived, but the flight data goes back to 2/18 so at least a week ago, but could be longer.

Valentine's Day 2/14.

bbinks · Post by **bbinks** » Wed Mar 12, 2025 12:38 am

Since only one chopper is in the air at a time, why is there a need for 3 choppers? Assuming N176PD is getting retired. I can see having 2. But we'd still have N240 and N402 along with the new one.

Post by **Brad** » Wed Mar 12, 2025 9:07 am

bbinks wrote: Wed Mar 12, 2025 12:38 am Since only one chopper is in the air at a time, why is there a need for 3 choppers? Assuming N176PD is getting retired. I can see having 2. But we'd still have N240 and N402 along with the new one.

Seems like they always like to have 3. I'd assume the goal is to always have 2 available for flight, even when one is down for service?

I'd also assuming N176PD was what was traded in, mentioned in the WOWT article below:

wowt wrote:The estimated cost was about $3.6 million, after a $482,000 trade-in — but that won’t be coming out of the city’s budget as it received a federal grant to cover the cost.

GenX · Post by **GenX** » Wed Mar 12, 2025 9:43 am

Brad wrote: Wed Mar 12, 2025 9:07 am
bbinks wrote: Wed Mar 12, 2025 12:38 am Since only one chopper is in the air at a time, why is there a need for 3 choppers? Assuming N176PD is getting retired. I can see having 2. But we'd still have N240 and N402 along with the new one.
Seems like they always like to have 3. I'd assume the goal is to always have 2 available for flight, even when one is down for service?

I'd also assuming N176PD was what was traded in, mentioned in the WOWT article below:

wowt wrote:The estimated cost was about $3.6 million, after a $482,000 trade-in — but that won’t be coming out of the city’s budget as it received a federal grant to cover the cost.

In the past, one was usually kept around as a ready supply of "spare" parts.

Post by **Brad** » Wed Mar 12, 2025 10:02 am

EricHaley wrote: Wed Mar 12, 2025 9:43 am
Brad wrote: Wed Mar 12, 2025 9:07 am
bbinks wrote: Wed Mar 12, 2025 12:38 am Since only one chopper is in the air at a time, why is there a need for 3 choppers? Assuming N176PD is getting retired. I can see having 2. But we'd still have N240 and N402 along with the new one.
Seems like they always like to have 3. I'd assume the goal is to always have 2 available for flight, even when one is down for service?

I'd also assuming N176PD was what was traded in, mentioned in the WOWT article below:

wowt wrote:The estimated cost was about $3.6 million, after a $482,000 trade-in — but that won’t be coming out of the city’s budget as it received a federal grant to cover the cost.

In the past, one was usually kept around as a ready supply of "spare" parts.

I know they did when the first got those army surplus helicopters back in 1997, but I haven't heard that for a while. Also wondering how many parts are interchange able these days. N176 was a Bell 206B, N402PD is a Bell 407, N240PD and N505BT are a Bell 505.

GenX · Post by **GenX** » Wed Mar 12, 2025 10:47 am

Brad wrote: Wed Mar 12, 2025 10:02 am
EricHaley wrote: Wed Mar 12, 2025 9:43 am
Brad wrote: Wed Mar 12, 2025 9:07 am
bbinks wrote: Wed Mar 12, 2025 12:38 am Since only one chopper is in the air at a time, why is there a need for 3 choppers? Assuming N176PD is getting retired. I can see having 2. But we'd still have N240 and N402 along with the new one.
Seems like they always like to have 3. I'd assume the goal is to always have 2 available for flight, even when one is down for service?

I'd also assuming N176PD was what was traded in, mentioned in the WOWT article below:

wowt wrote:The estimated cost was about $3.6 million, after a $482,000 trade-in — but that won’t be coming out of the city’s budget as it received a federal grant to cover the cost.

In the past, one was usually kept around as a ready supply of "spare" parts.
I know they did when the first got those army surplus helicopters back in 1997, but I haven't heard that for a while. Also wondering how many parts are interchange able these days. N176 was a Bell 206B, N402PD is a Bell 407, N240PD and N505BT are a Bell 505.

A quick search shows that between those three models, they might share a single screw, but that's about it. Different powertrains, avionics, and even blades.

Post by **Brad** » Wed Mar 12, 2025 10:51 am

EricHaley wrote: Wed Mar 12, 2025 10:47 am A quick search shows that between those three models, they might share a single screw, but that's about it. Different powertrains, avionics, and even blades.

N109 PD Still had a built in ash tray... Probably not interchangeable any more either... LOL

Busguy2010 · Post by **Busguy2010** » Wed Aug 13, 2025 12:38 pm

I noticed the police helicopter periodically flying over me the last hour or so, and I thought it strange. Looked up its flight path and it seems very erratic. Its pretty much flown over all of the city, with a focus around Little Italy, and has now landed back at Blair. Must have been some wild |expletive|.

Post by **Brad** » Wed Aug 13, 2025 12:58 pm

Busguy2010 wrote: Wed Aug 13, 2025 12:38 pm I noticed the police helicopter periodically flying over me the last hour or so, and I thought it strange. Looked up its flight path and it seems very erratic. Its pretty much flown over all of the city, with a focus around Little Italy, and has now landed back at Blair. Must have been some wild |expletive|.

Looks fairly typical to me. Just out on routine patrol and then one radio call in Little Italy.

Screenshot 2025-08-13 125726.jpg

Busguy2010 · Post by **Busguy2010** » Wed Aug 13, 2025 1:37 pm

I've just never noticed it pass back and forth over me so many times. Usually when I hear it, its just once in, once out, or when I'm in the focus area.

Busguy2010 · Post by **Busguy2010** » Wed Aug 13, 2025 1:46 pm

Based on that, I probably heard it cross over me at least seven times, minutes apart. That didn't seem typical to me.

Post by **nebugeater** » Wed Aug 13, 2025 2:23 pm

Busguy2010 wrote: Wed Aug 13, 2025 1:37 pm I've just never noticed it pass back and forth over me so many times. Usually when I hear it, its just once in, once out, or when I'm in the focus area.

So have to ask, what did you do? ;)

Busguy2010 · Post by **Busguy2010** » Wed Aug 13, 2025 3:13 pm

nebugeater wrote: Wed Aug 13, 2025 2:23 pm
Busguy2010 wrote: Wed Aug 13, 2025 1:37 pm I've just never noticed it pass back and forth over me so many times. Usually when I hear it, its just once in, once out, or when I'm in the focus area.
So have to ask, what did you do? ;)

HA! I was wondering the same thing. Thanks for the laugh

Busguy2010 · Post by **Busguy2010** » Wed Aug 13, 2025 3:22 pm

It had me feeling like Henry Hill from Goodfellas

I am probably now going to watch that movie tonight, I can't not.

Busguy2010 · Post by **Busguy2010** » Wed Aug 13, 2025 8:32 pm

Now its actually been circling in my area! What's in the air today?

Post by **BRoss** » Wed Aug 13, 2025 9:06 pm

Busguy2010 wrote: Wed Aug 13, 2025 8:32 pm Now its actually been circling in my area! What's in the air today?

You're clearly under surveillance

Busguy2010 · Post by **Busguy2010** » Wed Aug 13, 2025 9:35 pm

BRoss wrote: Wed Aug 13, 2025 9:06 pm
Busguy2010 wrote: Wed Aug 13, 2025 8:32 pm Now its actually been circling in my area! What's in the air today?
You're clearly under surveillance

I swear to my innocence! Lol

Busguy2010 · Post by **Busguy2010** » Wed Aug 13, 2025 10:04 pm

Really though, I can't say I've noticed them just weaving throughout the 680 loop all day. I really only see the Children's copter, and obviously you know it's destination, straight path to and fro. So it seemed weird to me that the police helicopter was basically making a birds nest all day. I dont know what I dont know, it just stood out to me.