Photo Info

Sydney Helicopters: Masters of the Sky

By Joe Campion

Published on: January 31, 2025
Estimated reading time 19 minutes, 1 seconds.

From firefighting to aerial crane operations, Sydney Helicopters combines precision and versatility to protect lives, property, and the environment across New South Wales.

When a wildfire erupts in the rugged bushland of New South Wales (NSW), or torrential floods cut off communities, it is often Sydney Helicopters that takes to the skies to deliver help. Operating from the foothills of the Blue Mountains, this versatile and vital company provides services that save lives, protect property, and support countless public events. Their work spans far beyond the rotor blades of their helicopters, embodying a lifeline for many in their region.

Joe Campion Photo

Founded in 1985, Sydney Helicopters began as a charter and tourism company. Current owner and chief pilot Mark Harrold took the reins in 2006, transforming it into a powerhouse for utility and emergency services. Today, its fleet is a cornerstone of public safety in NSW, supporting government agencies and private entities alike.

The company operates from Nepean Aerospace Park (YNEP) in Castlereagh, a facility that officially opened in late 2024. Set on a sprawling (11-hectare) 27-acre site, YNEP houses a modern hangar, an in-house engineering facility, training and conference rooms, and a VIP lounge for charter clients. Its strategic location, just an hour from Sydney’s city center and near the Blue Mountains, ensures rapid response times to emergencies.

The opening was attended by key figures, including NSW Premier Chris Minns and Rural Fire Service (RFS) Commissioner Rob Rogers, highlighting the work of the company as well as the location of the new facility as critically important to the provision of emergency services in NSW.

During the event, Minns stated that the brand-new Nepean Aerospace Park is “Sydney’s only standalone helicopter facility owned by Sydney Helicopters. These guys provide an invaluable service to our state. We’ll always back small and medium businesses in NSW, and it’s incredible to see this new facility take flight.” 

Minns’ remarks highlighted the significance of the Nepean Aerospace Park — not only as a milestone for Sydney Helicopters but also as a key investment in the region’s aviation infrastructure. This sentiment was echoed by Harrold, who emphasized the broader impact of the facility on community services and emergency response capabilities.

“It was an opportunity to demonstrate and be recognized by the highest level of government, the strategic location of our facility and the services that we provide the community,” Harrold said. “[The facility] is a game changer, providing quicker response and more efficient deployment of aircraft to communities in need.”

Sydney Helicopters’ capabilities extend beyond firefighting. Using a mixed fleet of Bell 412s and Airbus Helicopters AS350s, the company provides flood relief, aerial crane operations, powerline inspection, land management, and filming for major events. These include the Sydney New Year’s Eve fireworks, the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, and the Sydney Marathon — a complex operation when it comes to coordinating multiple helicopters with camera and link equipment while operating in Sydney’s controlled airspace.

Sydney Helicopters relocated to its current facility from its previous home of 27 years at the Rosehill Heliport — nine nautical miles (17 kilometers) from Kingsford Smith International Airport in Sydney. This was due to the acquisition of the Rosehill Heliport by the NSW government to develop a railway service.

Joe Campion Photo

“We had to identify a suitable location to relocate the business and seamlessly maintain our services,” Harrold said. “This proved exceptionally difficult, and add into the equation the onset of the Covid pandemic, the job of getting relocated seemed almost insurmountable. We ended up turning our attention to a site that I had identified back in early 2019 for a satellite heliport.” 

Following a rigorous development approval process, the company gained approval for Nepean Aerospace Park, which Harrold said is perfectly located for the future of rotary and vertical takeoff aircraft.

“Our base at [Nepean Aerospace Park] affords us a rapid response to the ever-present threat of bushfire in the Blue Mountains [National Park] and the communities that border it,” Harrold said.

Augmenting the facility’s prime position, the Western Sydney Airport, a second international airport for Sydney, is scheduled to open in 2026 and will change the configuration of airspace in and around the Sydney basin. Sydney Helicopters is located 10 nautical miles (19 kilometers) from the new airport location.

A skilled and versatile team

Harrold leads a team of skilled full-time pilots and aircrew. Alongside the full-time pilots, Sydney Helicopters contracts additional crew as needed for seasonal work and humanitarian missions.

Over the past month, the team has logged more than 300 flight hours on bushfires in the Greater Sydney area, performing aerial waterbombing, air attack supervision, and remote area firefighting. These operations include hoisting remote aerial firefighters from the NSW RFS and National Parks to combat lightning-induced fires in surrounding national parks.

Training is a key component of the business. The company operates its own part 141 training organization, offering advanced pilot training for Bell 412 type-ratings and single-engine helicopter endorsements. Additional training includes night visual flight rules (NVFR), aerial firefighting, rescue hoist operations, and low-level ratings. The facility features large training rooms that accommodate up to 40 people, allowing Sydney Helicopters to offer these facilities to clients for their own use.

Sydney Helicopters has operated various helicopter models over the years, including Bell 206 JetRangers, Bell 407 and Robinson R44s, as well as Airbus EC120s, BK117s, and EC145s. Today, the fleet consists of Bell 412s, Airbus AS350 Squirrels/AStars, and two Bell 206s.

The company also has its own dedicated maintenance facility through its subsidiary, Aerotech Sydney, which employs full-time engineering staff available year-round to maintain the company’s aircraft fleet. This facility is complemented with the support provided by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

“Bell provides good product support through their local representatives here in Australia,” said Harrold, referring to Bell’s recent acquisition of Eagle Copters in Queensland.

Joe Campion Photo

The most recent AS350 Squirrel joined the fleet in 2022. Sydney Helicopters utilizes the Squirrel as a versatile utility aircraft, capable of transitioning from passenger transport to specialized operations. These include aerial filming, external load work, waterbombing with a Bambi Bucket attached to a 130-ft (40 m) longline, aerial incendiary tasks, FLIR mapping, reconnaissance, powerline patrols, land management, and aerial shooting for feral animal control.

The company began operating Bell 412s in 2018 and now has six in its fleet, with the final aircraft delivered in January 2025. These helicopters are equipped with Simplex 304 belly tanks, which hold up to 375 US gallons (1,420 liters) of water for firefighting. The tanks feature Kawak hover refill pumps, enabling refills at a rapid rate of 400 US gallons per minute. The Simplex tanks do not need to be removed as the longling can be attached through the center of the belly tank, allowing the aircraft to switch to longline water bucket operations in minutes.

“We find that our aircraft are used in the initial phase of aerial firefighting as a tanking aircraft, especially around the urban interface with bushland, and then later in the mop-up phase as a longline water bucket aircraft,” Harrold said. “The water bucket configuration allows for targeted waterbombing of hot spots during the mopping-up phase, working very closely with ground crews from firefighting agencies.”

The longline bucket capability enables flight crews to access small water sources in heavily wooded creeks that are unreachable with tanking equipment. To meet the demands of both tanking and longline bucket operations, Sydney Helicopters’ aircrew must be highly trained and adaptable.

Two of the company’s 412s are contracted to the National Council for Fire and Emergency Services (AFAC) through 2026. Several 412s are also equipped with rescue hoists, enabling rapid deployment of firefighters to remote, inaccessible areas. This capability allows fires to be suppressed before they spread, protecting nearby communities — a vital function in Australia’s rugged bushland.

During the historic Black Summer bushfires from June 2019 to March 2020, Sydney Helicopters flew more than 4,200 hours, dropping approximately 13 million US gal (48 million L) of water on fires that consumed 243,000 square kilometers (93,800 square miles).

“Flying the 412s in firefighting ops for Sydney Helicopters has truly been the highlight of my 12-year career as a commercial helicopter pilot,” said pilot James Williams. “The 412 is one of the most versatile platforms on the fire ground … There’s nowhere we cannot get crews. In addition, we have capability for conducting FLIR operations and moving supplies and equipment. The ability to not only do [these operations] but reconfigure between roles in minutes makes the 412 so versatile.”

During floods, Sydney Helicopters supports the NSW State Emergency Service (SES) and NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) by carrying rescue technicians and delivering essential supplies. The 412’s spacious cabin allows it to transport large quantities of food and rations to isolated communities, often cut off for months.

In a region where natural disasters are a constant challenge, Sydney Helicopters stands ready. From combating bushfires to providing critical support during floods, Sydney Helicopters exemplifies the essential role of aviation in protecting lives, property, and the environment.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notice a spelling mistake or typo?

Click on the button below to send an email to our team and we will get to it as soon as possible.

Report an error or typo

Have a story idea you would like to suggest?

Click on the button below to send an email to our team and we will get to it as soon as possible.

Suggest a story