Leandro Maldonado reports on the 2º CORPAer, the youngest helicopter unit of the Military Police in Minas Gerais, Brazil. All photos by author.

Considered one of the most important and active helicopter units of Brazil, the PM-MG (Minas Gerais Military Police) CORPAer (Comando de Radiopatrulhamento Aereo – Radio Patrol Air Command) was one of the first police units to adopt the helicopter to improve the fight against crime and to support the citizens of big Brazilian urban centres. Activated on January 27, 1987, the CORPAer currently has a fleet of 6 aircraft, call-signed 'Pegasus' (see table below).

Until September 2005, all aircraft were centralized under the Batalhao de Radiopatrulhamento Aereo (Radio Patrol Air Battalion) command and based in Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais state. But to improve the efficiency and readiness to attend other parts of the state, the 2º CORPAer was created on September 14, 2005 (2º Companhia de Rádiopatrulhamento Aéreo - Radio Patrol Air Company), based at the PM-MG Special Operations Battalion in Uberlandia, north-west of Minas Gerais, in a region known by 'Triangulo Mineiro' (Minas Delta). One of the biggest towns of the state, Uberlandia is an industrial and tecnological centre, being a strategic region of the Minas Gerais economy. The 2º CORPAer is the first unit created outside Belo Horizonte, and the PM-MG has plans to create more units in other locations of the state, “...the ideal would be have 10 units sprayed around the state, this could give us a enormous gain in eficiency and logistics...” says Captain Juliano Messias, commander of the 2º CORPAer.

With the creation of the new unity, one AS 350B2, 'Pegasus 11' was transfered from Belo Horizonte to Uberlandia and it is on alert from sunrise till sunset, and depending on the situation, it could take-off at night as well. The 'Pegasus One One' was the last aircraft to be incorporated to the PM-MG fleet and it is equiped with a GPS/VOR/ADF, VHF Bendix King and policial VHF radios; other equipment included are a winch on the port side (max. 136Kg) and one underside hook (max. 750Kg), one search light Spectrolab SX-16 of 1,600W and provision to fit a FLIR unit.

Multi-functional in nature, the 2º CORPAer realizes not only policial duties, but many other tasks are in their scope as well, like SAR, MEDEVAC (Medical Evacuation), forest patrol in support of the IEF (Instituto Estadual de Florestas – State Forest Institute) and fire fighting, in this case the AS 350B2 can be equiped with the Bambi Bucket, a container of 545 litres attached on the underside hook of the aircraft, which allows the launching of water or other aditives over the fire area, in support of Corpo de Bombeiros Militar (Fire Figthers). No matter the situation, fighting the crime or saving lives, the 2º CORPAer crews are always ready to accomplish their mission, make the Triangulo Mineiro a safer place for all.