The Grand Ole Opry, the Country Music Hall of Fame, and downtown’s Honky Tonk Highway with its seemingly endless selection of bars and clubs are probably the first things that come to mind when your thoughts turn to Nashville, Tennessee.
While Music City has long been home to the guitars, banjos, and voices that put this locale on the map, it is also no stranger to airborne law enforcement.
With an aerial police asset dating back to the early 1970s, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) Aviation Unit has seen a variety of aircraft pass through its hangar over the years. And like the famous Broadway Street musicians, the latest and greatest is now on the scene. For the MNPD, that arrived in the form of the Airbus H125.
With an area population exceeding 1.3 million, residing in a diverse landscape covering 525 square miles (1,350 square kilometers), the MNPD would be at a severe disadvantage if not for its aviation resources.
Like the city it protects, in its 50-plus-year history of patrolling the skies over Nashville, the aviation unit has modernized with the times. Beginning with three iconic Bell 47s, a Bell 206 Jet Ranger, and a Maule single-engine airplane, those were replaced in 1990 with two MD500Es.
In 1997, eight Bell OH-58s were acquired from the military surplus program — four of which were flown while the others utilized for parts. This assemblage was flown for the next few decades until a series of changes arrived at the MNPD.
One of those key changes was the addition of Sgt. Nathan Dungan, who brought his U.S. Army experience to the MNPD in 2011, and by 2019, had made his way to the Aviation Unit. This was a perfect fit as he had also flown Black Hawks during his military service time.
Before long, he earned both the chief pilot and sergeant titles. He now oversees the day-to-day operations of the crews working the skies of Nashville.
“We currently have four full-time pilots that are sworn officers, along with two civilian pilots,” Dungan told Vertical during the Blades of Valor Road Tour. “In addition, working with those pilots are four full-time TFOs [tactical flight officers], 12 part-time TFOs, myself and another pilot sergeant, and a TFO sergeant. We also have a lieutenant who supervises the entire unit.”
Like a lot of older police aviation units, the mentality of the way things were done has morphed into a new, more modern approach, Dungan said.
“The traditional view of the new guy not deserving input or the ‘just do what you’re told’ style had to change,” Dungan stated. “We wanted a state-of-the-art aviation unit and that doesn’t just mean equipment. Everyone has a voice in this unit. When you work here, you are part of a tribe. We are a close-knit unit that relies on input from everyone to accomplish our goal of providing safe, effective aerial coverage to the officers on the ground and the citizens of Nashville.”
In addition to a new personnel strategy, another substantial change arrived in the past two years: the Airbus H125 — two of them, to be exact.
“We received our first H125 in December 2022, and the second in March 2023,” Dungan said. “Both MDs were traded as part of the deal for the Airbus models, and we kept two of the OH-58s as backup and for training purposes.”
In just 1.5 years, the unit had put nearly 2,000 hours on the new aircraft, with Dungan calling the type a success for the air support team and specialty units.
“During times when the H125 may be down for maintenance, the guys on the ground don’t even request our backup OH-58s. The H125 is just that good.”
The proof is in the numbers. While averaging 2,000 calls for service a year, in the first year of flying the Airbus, the unit was instrumental in 900 arrests and helped recover over 350 stolen cars.
“Precision policing is a big thing for our department, and we have been told so many times by our specialty teams that they cannot do their jobs without us. This asset is that invaluable,” Dungan said.
When the MNPD ordered its H125s, the type checked all the boxes. For the law enforcement mission, each aircraft is identically equipped with the L3Harris Wescam MX-10 EO/IR imaging system, Trakka System’s TrakkaBeam A800 searchlight, Shotover’s augmented reality digital mapping system, Macro-Blue touchscreen monitors, Rhotheta’s RT-600-L wideband radio direction finders, and more — all in a night vision goggle (NVG)-compliant cockpit.
As a multi-use platform, they also carry Collins Aerospace Goodrich hoists, multi-point attachments, and cargo hooks. The avionics suite is an assortment of Garmin products, including 500 TXi flight displays, GFC 600H flight control systems, and GTN 750/650 NAV/COM systems.
Aircraft communication is handled by Eagle Copters’ audio panels and Axnes’ remote intercom system, while Technisonic TDFM 9000 radios connect with ground units, and a Troll Systems antenna tackles downlink services.
“We are fortunate to have a very supportive command staff and city council here in Nashville,” Dungan explained. “They recognize what we add to the productivity and safety of this city, and they were willing to provide us with what we requested.”
This includes approval for a new hangar facility at the nearby John C. Tune Airport, expected to be occupied within the next year.
“That will allow us to move out of the police academy facility, which will be better and safer for all of us,” Dungan said.
To hear more about the MNPD Aviation Unit and Dungan, tune into the latest installment (Part 1 and Part 2) of the Hangar Z Podcast from the Blades of Valor Road Tour, hosted by Jon Gray and Jack Schonely.
And in case you missed it, check out the previous article in the Blades of Valor Road Tour series where the team visited the Oxford County Police Department.
