With their two Airbus Helicopters H145 helicopters, the Philippine Coast Guard is the first coast guard organisation in the world to operate the multi-purpose H145. The new 4-tonne-class twin-engine helicopter is specially equipped with weather radar, a bambi bucket, emergency floatation gears, as well as an external loudspeaker to perform critical missions such as search and rescue, maritime patrol, law enforcement and fire-fighting. The Philippine Coast Guard’s first H145 helicopter has already proven itself, embarking on numerous humanitarian missions, including delivering personal protection equipment and essential supplies to frontline workers in the Coast Guard District in Negros Occidental, a province located in the Southern Visayas, in the fight against COVID-19 earlier in March 2020.
With a spacious, unobstructed cabin that was specifically designed to meet the requirements set by national regulatory agencies, the H145 is the market leader for emergency medical services and rescue missions. The quietest in its class and equipped with state-of-the-art Helionix avionics suite, this twin-engine helicopter offers exceptional performance along with upgraded main and tail rotor systems. This guarantees an unprecedented level of performance in both hover and one-engine inoperative conditions. In the Philippines alone, there are currently six H145 helicopters deployed mainly for business aviation purposes. Globally, more than 1,400 units are currently in service, achieving more than 5.9 million flight hours.
The H145 is a twin-engine light utility helicopter developed and manufactured by Airbus Helicopters. Originally referred to as the BK 117 C2, the H145 is based upon the MBB/Kawasaki BK 117 C1, which became a part of the combined Eurocopter line-up in 1992 with the merger of Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm’s helicopter division (now Airbus Helicopters). The H145 is a twin-engine aircraft and can carry up to nine passengers along with two crew, depending on customer configuration. The helicopter is marketed for passenger transport, corporate transport, emergency medical services (EMS), search and rescue, parapublic and utility roles. Military variants of the helicopter have also been produced under various designations, such as H145M or UH-72, and have been used for training, logistics, medical evacuation, reconnaissance, light attack, and troop-transport operations.
