Fort Worth, TX – July 3, 2012 – Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. company (NYSE: TXT), announced today the delivery of a Bell 412 helicopter to the New York Police Department. The NYPD currently has three Bell 412s in service for a variety of missions ranging from search and rescue at sea to gathering intelligence and more recently, combating terrorism.

“The mission has changed rapidly. Now aviation is being used more as a force multiplier for patrol, gathering intelligence, counter-terrorism and the detective bureau,” remarked Captain James Coan of the NYPD Commanding Office. “We have a 64 year relationship with Bell Helicopter and we are very happy with them,” added Capt. Coan.

The NYPD began utilizing the Bell 412 for air-sea rescues and has now expanded their usage of the versatile aircraft to include counter-terrorism and other law enforcement missions to protect the city. The NYPD dedicated many hours to tailoring and designing the specifications of their third Bell 412 in order to meet the demanding and diverse needs of the largest police department in the United States. One of the counter-terrorism additions to the Bell 412 is a radiation detection system that can identify radiation signatures from an altitude of 200 feet in an effort to protect the city from nuclear bomb threats.

“The NYPD is one of the most recognized police aviation units in the world. They are a symbol of America and we are very proud they choose Bell helicopters for their heroic missions,” said Danny Maldonado, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Bell Helicopter. “We give our most sincere thanks to the NYPD for selecting Bell Helicopter to be a part of their future,” Maldonado added.

Bell Helicopter has been a part of the NYPD since 1948 when it delivered a Bell 47, the first Bell helicopter to be used as part of an airborne law enforcement team. Since then, Bell Helicopter has strived to provide innovative product solutions and the best customer support and service to maintain its valued, long-standing relationship with New York’s finest.

The Bell 412 is not only the best in class product for the NYPD’s missions; it is backed by Bell Helicopter’s industry-leading customer support and service, ranking #1 in Professional Pilot magazine for 18 consecutive years as well as #1 in Aviation International News for six consecutive years.

Source and photo: Bell helicopter