The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department partnered with GovDeals to sell three helicopters to purchase additional helicopters with the funds from the sale.
The Sheriff’s Department offers three former county patrol helicopters used for search and rescue for sale to the public through its partnership with GovDeals, the leading online auction platform for government agencies and educational institutions to sell their surplus assets. The helicopters at auction include a 2000 MD 369 FF Helicopter, a 1981 MD 369 D Helicopter, and a 2007 Bell 407 Helicopter, with detailed logbooks available during inspection.
According to GovDeals, these helicopters are the first set of auctions from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.
Each helicopter is currently at auction until April 28th and San Diego County is asking all potential buyers to pay a refundable $5,000 bid deposit before placing a bid on any of the helicopters. Scheduled inspections are planned for April 20th, and serious buyers are encouraged to inspect the aircraft and logbooks before placing any bids.
From this sale, the county plans to use the funds to purchase additional helicopters in the same make and model as other aircraft currently in operation in San Diego County.
“Our number one goal has always been the safety of our pilots; we regularly conducted upkeep and maintenance and a complete set of maintenance records are available for buyers to inspect. We decided to sell these helicopters to increase pilot safety, and better align all the county-owned aircraft so that our pilots only need to be trained on one model,” Sheriff’s Lieutenant for San Diego County Sheriff Department, Darrell A. Strohl said, "They are still airworthy and would make a great addition to someone's aircraft division."
