(ORILLIA, ON) – Members of Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Aviation Services have accepted delivery of a replacement fixed wing aircraft – a 2013 Pilatus PC-12/NG.
Based in Thunder Bay, the Pilatus is a single-engine, turbo-prop airplane that is used to transport OPP and other personnel to the site of criminal investigations or emergency situations. Additionally, the OPP Pilatus assists with surveillance, security detail, transportation of prisoners, and some search and rescue operations.
The OPP has owned and operated various aircraft since 1974 to support fulfilling of its provincial mandate. The current OPP fleet includes two, 2011-model helicopters and two fixed wing aircraft – the Pilatus and a Cessna. Routinely, the OPP Pilatus flies 1,300 to 1,400 hours per year. The current 1997 Pilatus PC-12/45 has been in service since January 1998, having transported an estimated 40,000 passengers and 90,000 pounds of freight during its operational life. In terms of distances flown, the OPP Pilatus has travelled an estimated 151 trips around the Earth at the equator.
The 1997 Pilatus will be decommissioned of police equipment and returned to the vendor – Pilatus Centre Canada of Thunder Bay – for eventual resale.