On July 22, 2011, mass shooting attacks against the government and a political summer camp on Utøya island led to the death of 77 people and more than 300 wounded. This attack was the deadliest mass shooting by a lone individual in modern history and the deadliest in Norway since WWII.
The tragedy also shed light on the lack of reactivity among police forces. The first shot was fired at 5:22 p.m., and emergency medical services were informed about the shooting two minutes later. One more minute and the police in Oslo was informed. It immediately tried to reach Utøya but did not have a helicopter that could take them to the island.
By 5:30, the police tactical unit in Oslo was on the way to Utøya, 40 kilometers (25 miles) away. The fact is the Norwegian police did not have helicopters suitable for rapid transport. The one it had was equipped for surveillance missions and its crew was on leave when the attack occurred.
The terror attacks led to a profound reorganization of the emergency intervention units, and the creation of a national emergency response center in Taraldrud, a few kilometers south of Oslo.
The center entered into operations at the end of 2020 and hosts different contingency units, including the bomb squad, intervention team, hostage rescue negotiators, and air support unit, which is now equipped with three Leonardo AW169s.
Interestingly enough, Taraldrud has its own heliport equipped with a short 300-meter (984-foot) runway, with all the necessary elements to facilitate its use in poor weather conditions. These elements comprise an approach lighting system on the runway, a helicopter approach path indicator (HAPI), standard instrumental departure (SID) procedures from the runway, and instrumental approach procedures in both runway directions that include EGNOS-based point-in-space (PinS) procedures.
The AW169 is certified to conduct required navigation performance approach (RNP APCH) procedures down to localizer performance with vertical guidance (LPV) minima, using satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS).
“Taraldrud is an ICAO-approved airport, with a full lighting and a heated parking area to ease operations with ice or snow in wintertime,” said police superintendent and chief pilot Gunnar Arnekleiv.
The unit’s three AW169 helicopters are flown for surveillance missions, search missions, sniper operations, tactical insertion using a fast rope, and providing support to regular police operations.
“We used to fly a lone Airbus EC135 T2+, completed with a second one on lease. In 2016, it was decided to beef up our capacities with a slightly larger machine in order to have a significant transport capability,” Arnekleiv said. “We launched a public tender and the contenders were the Airbus H145 D2, Bell 429, Sikorsky S-76D, and Leonardo AW169. The 169 was chosen because it was compliant with our requirements and offered the best combination of price and performance at that time.”
The three helicopters were received in 2019. One helicopter is configured for surveillance, while the second is ready for transport missions. Both remain on duty with their crews 24/7, while the third is kept as a backup for maintenance and training.
“We have two surveillance kits and two transport kits, which allow us to equip the third helicopter in either configuration,” Arnekleiv said. “It takes 30 to 40 minutes for two trained mechanics to change the configuration. This flexibility was also part of our requirement.”
In the transport configuration, the AW169 can carry up to eight passengers in the cabin, although the usual setup is for six passengers. The three helicopters are equipped with L3Harris Wescam MX-15 EO/IR imaging systems that have the capacity to download video in real-time to the operation center.
“We have a technical solution, although it’s not fully implemented yet, to download still pictures and video directly to tablets or smartphones,” Arnekleiv said.
The AW169’s extensive range allows air support crews to operate across the country. This includes traveling along Norway’s coast, which stretches 2,500 kilometers (1,553 miles). Flying from Oslo to Kirkenes can take more than seven hours in a helicopter.
The Air Support Unit assists the 12 police districts, and requests for support are sent through a national emergency response center in Taraldrud.
“The helicopter crew usually does 12 hours shift,” Arnekleiv said. “The day starts with briefing and preparations, and the crews will then either respond to missions or conduct training flight according to a training schedule.”
The aircraft are instrument flight rules (IFR)-capable and are equipped with night vision imaging systems (NVIS), and crews follow the same weather minimums as helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) operations.
“Most of the time, the freezing level is a limiting factor when it comes to IFR operations, especially for crossing the mountain to the west or north. This applies for most of the months throughout the year in Norway,” Arnekleiv said.
The transport helicopter is operated by one pilot and one police crew member. Meanwhile, the surveillance helicopter is operated by a pilot, a sworn tactical flight officer (TFO) in the left seat, and a sworn systems operator (SO) in the cabin.
About half of the pilots in the unit are former police officers, and the remainder have either a civilian or military background with 2,000 flying hours or more. Once pilots are recruited, they are sent to Leonardo for type rating training before returning to the unit to train on the specific mission.
The unit provides in-house training for police officers to become TFOs or Sos. Training includes acquiring theoretical knowledge of a helicopter private pilot license (PPL-H), as well as simulator and actual flight training.
TFOs are not qualified as pilots, but are trained to land the helicopter in the event the pilot becomes incapacitated.
“We are not allowed to train [TFOs] in flight, but we teach them to land in the simulator,” Arnekleiv said. “They are taught to use the four-axis autopilot system, which will bring the helicopter to a hover above the ground, and then they will land it vertically using the stabilization system.”
In terms of maintenance, Patria Helicopters AB has been contracted by Leonardo to provide a turnkey undertaking for maintenance, logistics, and availability since 2017. Daily maintenance is carried out by a single mechanic during the weekday, while the crews tackle maintenance on the weekend. The entire team takes part in a big clean-up every Friday.
“We like the idea of making the crew accountable for the cleanliness of the helicopters entrusted to them,” Arnekleiv said. “The fact is our helicopters are so clean that everybody thinks they are brand-new. But this not the case. We just clocked 10,000 hours on the fleet in five years. In 2023, we flew 2,150 hours, which gives an average of almost six flying hours every day throughout the year.”
