LangleyAdvance Thursday, August 15, 2013
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Troy Landreville/Langley Advance
Nigel Bushe, officer in charge of the RCMP E Division’s Air Services, explained that cost and convenience are why the two local RCMP helicopters will now be flying out of the Langley Regional Airport, instead of the Vancouver International Airport.
Policing
Airborne Mounties roost in Langley Langley will be the home base for RCMP helicopters in the Lower Mainland. by Matthew Claxton
mclaxton@langleyadvance.com
When police forces around the Lower Mainland call for backup from a helicopter, it will now be responding from Langley. The RCMP announced Wednesday that they have moved their Air One helicopters to the Langley Regional Airport, and signed a long-term lease. “If you look at a map of the Lower Mainland, Langley is dead centre,” said Nigel Bushe, the officer in charge of the E Division Air Services. The decision to move from the Vancouver International Airport to Langley was made a few months ago, and the helicopters started taking off and landing here in June. Now all the personnel and equipment have been
moved into a hangar off of 56th Avenue. The two reasons for the big move were costs and operations, said Bushe. On the operations side, it was taking 10 to 15 minutes to get clearance from the tower at YVR to actually take off. That wasn’t ideal in an emergency. Sea Island, the home of YVR between Richmond and Vancouver, also wasn’t the best place to be if you wanted to get to Chilliwack. “It means better coverage,” said Roger Thomson, a civilian pilot for the program. Thomson, the first pilot hired when the Air One program started in 2006, noted that the helicopters are expected to cover an area from Hope to Whistler. “When we used to be in YVR, we were at the western end of our patrol area,” Thomson said. Now they’re about three to four minutes from northwestern Surrey, three minutes from Maple Ridge, and they don’t have to
worry about a 767 coming in The two current craft concenthrough the airspace and complitrate on supporting police on the cating their ability to take off and ground by following suspects, land. searching for missing people, or It is also expensive to operate keeping an eye on anything that out of YVR. needs watching from the sky. With helicopters moved to “What’s unique about them is Langley, and with the RCMP’s they’re very quiet,” said Bushe. fixed-wing aircraft, or Local officials and airplanes, moved to politicians from Langley Boundary Bay within City and Township, a few months, it will along with Langley MP save the RCMP about Mark Warawa, were on $150,000 to $200,000, hand to see the official estimated Bushe. Longlaunch of the service term leases have been from Langley. signed for both locaThe manager of the tions already. airport was excited There are currently about the new tenant. Roger Thomson two helicopters and two “It’s fabulous, this is Pilot pilots in the program, a really important flying and Bushe said hopeservice to have on the fully a third aircraft will be added airport,” said Langley Regional within a year as well as more Airport manager Guy Miller. staff. A third aircraft would likely It fits in with the airport’s niche be a larger twin-rotor craft in of attracting helicopters. Over contrast to the single-rotor helithe past two decades, the airport copters now in use, and would be has become a hub of maintenused more for border patrols and ance and fabrication firms based search and rescue. around helicopters.
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Arts Alive!
Saturday, August 17… 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Take in this festive celebration of the arts in Downtown Langley City. Free ‘Goody Bags’ will be handed out to the first 500 people. See pages A3 and A17-20 for more complete details.