South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (or SLED as it’s known locally) has put in a request for a new MD500E.  As explained in the agenda for yesterday’s meeting released very recently, SLED currently operates a 1964 UH-1H, a 1968 OH-6A and two MD500Es from 1987 and 1989.  Their aim in buying a new aircraft is to target having two airworthy 500Es as the existing two require increasing maintenance time.  Clearly the existing maintenance equipment, pilot and engineer training and so on keep them with the 500E to eliminate the costs of introducing a new type.

HeliHub.com will report on the decision once the Capital Improvements Joint Board Review Committee has published it.  The budget request includes the fact that SLED wants to use money confiscated during investigations and fees collected for criminal record searches.

Current inventory

UH-1H N600SL (64-13562) – see photo online

OH-6A N501SL (39-1106)

MD500E N502SL (0244E) – see photo online on Flickr

MD500E N500SC (0334E) – see photo online

William P Johnson – HeliHub.com US correspondent