The Los Angeles City Fire Department (LAFD) looks set to either replace their aging Bell 206 aircraft or augment their training fleet with the impending arrival of a new "Copter 7" spotted in New Mexico by photographer Craig Campbell yesterday (January 30th, 2023.)
The Bell 505 has been in consideration for several years by LAFD after a demo aircraft was spotted being put through its paces several years ago out of the agency's Van Nuys base in California.
LAFD currently operates two Bell 206L helicopters for training operations and in an HLCO role and can carry a tank with a 380-gallon capacity. The Bell 206 airframe was first introduced to service with LAFD in 1974 and has been a constant training platform for the agency for nearly 40 years.
