Beijing's first police helicopter will patrol the capital's sky from next June, in preparation for increased security measures during the 2008 Olympic Games.

The air police will help collect evidence, trail criminal suspects, support anti-terrorist, anti-riot and other ground operations, transfer policemen and facilities as well as direct traffic, said Xue Xiaoming, an official with the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau.

He said that crew members will be picked up from the airforce, army aviation and some college graduates, but he didn't elaborate on how many have been recruited in the training.

"They will receive at least six-month training and those who fail to pass the final tests will be eliminated," he said.

Domestic professionals will give them flight training and the Italian company selling helicopters to Beijing will send engineers here to help them get adapted to the copter facilities and operation skills, he said.

They may also have opportunities to go abroad for further learning, he said.

Beijing police authorities signed a contract on June 22 with Italian firm Agusta Westland to buy an AW139 helicopter.

They will purchase two CA109s from its joint venture Agusta Ltd. Co. based in east China's Jiangxi Province and get another CA109 for free, according to the contract signed with the company.

The first helicopter is expected to arrive in Beijing next April, and the other three will be delivered by next October.

The take-off peak load for the AW139 is 6.4 tons. It is able to carry 15 people with a maximum speed of 318 km per hour.

The CA109, already in use by police forces in the Chinese mainland cities of Shenzhen, Zhengzhou and Dalian, is able to carry six people at a top speed of 272 km per hour. Its maximum load is three tons.

Though prices haven't been disclosed, it is said that the maintenance fee for each copter is valued at 200,000 yuan (25,000 U.S. dollars) to 300,000 yuan (37,500 U.S. dollars).

Source: Xinhua