Flight hours, calls for service down for Winnipeg police helicopter in 2016

The Winnipeg Police Service helicopter unit flew less and responded to less calls in 2016 than the previous year.

The Flight Operations Unit’s annual report said the helicopter logged 732.8 hours of flight time, a 27 per cent decrease from 2015.

The report also said the unit responded to 1,571 calls, a decrease of 35 per cent from 2015.

The officer in charge of the Flight Operations Unit said maintenance work kept the chopper grounded.

“We had some of our major work done this year which took us off and the second part is we had kind of a catastrophic failure of our camera which left us down in one of our prime time months in August,” Ins. John Lutz with the Winnipeg Police Service said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We had some of our major work done this year which took us off and the second part is we had kind of a catastrophic failure of our camera which left us down in one of our prime time months in August," Ins. John Lutz with the Winnipeg Police Service said.

WATCH: Air1 helicopter was in the air 27 per cent less in 2016 when compared to the year before. Global’s Sean Leslie reports. 

1:33 Flight hours, calls for service down for Winnipeg police helicopter in 2016

RELATED: RCMP loan infrared camera to Winnipeg police to help get Air1 off ground

The 732 flight hours in 2016 are the lowest for the unit since it was formed in 2011 but the $1.9 million price tag for operational costs is the highest during that same time period.

The city paid the purchase price of the helicopter, but the provincial government has been picking up operational costs since it was brought into service.

RELATED: Future of Winnipeg police Air1 chopper up in the air

The former NDP government was planning a review of the Air1 unit but it was called off by Brian Pallister’s new Conservative government.

The Tories have proposed a new funding framework that would put the onus on the city to decide if it’s worth continuing to use the provincial cash provided to pay for the Air1 unit.

According to a statement from Mayor Brian Bowman’s office, he’d like to see an external cost benefit analysis but concedes it’s up to the police service and police board if that will happen.

“The Mayor continues to respect the role of the Police Board as well as their authority to establish budget allocations and priorities together with the Winnipeg Police Service,” read the statement.

RELATED: Winnipeg Police Air 1 takes down dangerous driver near floodway

According to new police board chair David Asper, an external review may not be necessary.

“There’s been lots of talk about an external review but I think it’s probably part of the normal budgeting process that we would ordinarily do that internally with the service with Air1 along with many other aspects of the police budget,” said Asper.

Despite the questions surrounding the unit’s sources of funding, Lutz believes it would be a mistake to cut the program.

“We’re more efficient and effective with it, we’re safer. We provide specialized services here that we wouldn’t be able to do before,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We're more efficient and effective with it, we're safer. We provide specialized services here that we wouldn't be able to do before," he said.