Airbus H145D3 now stationed in Pistoolhaven

As an update on our earlier post on Noordzee Helicopters Vlaanderen (NHV) of 22 December 2024, we can now confirm that the announced Airbus H145D3 OO-NSP (MSN 21369) arrived in the Netherlands on 20 February 2025. The factorynew 5-bladed helicopter touched the helipad of Pistoolhaven in Europoort (Rotterdam harbour) around 17:52 hrs.

As stated earlier, the new H145D3 has been introduced to replace the faithful AS-365N Dauphins that were used in the past decade. For both the crew and their passengers of the Dutch Pilots organization, the change in equipment has some consequences. This is particularly true during hoisting procedures.

From the Dauphin, with its retractable trigear undercarriage, hoisting was performed by the operator seated on the cabinefloor. The H145, on the other hand, has a fixed skid undercarriage, which makes it necessary for the hoist operator to step on the skid and from there control the hoisting. A job only for true dare-devils!

Photo by Roeland Mentink