AS350 Squirrel

The Airbus Helicopters H125 (formerly Aérospatiale AS350 Squirrel) is a versatile light helicopter developed by Aérospatiale. This is a high-performance version of the Squirrel, with an 847hp Turbomeca Arriel 2B turbine and FADEC system. The prototype made its maiden flight on March 3, 1997 and was certified on December 24, 1997. Deliveries began in January 1998. In 2005, this latest version broke a number of climb speed records⁷ (3,000 m in 2 min 21 s, 6,000 m in 5 min 6 s and 9,000 m in 9 min 26 s), before completing the world’s highest landing on MountEverest (8,849 m) on May 14, 2005.