Los Angeles Police Department Puts Virtual Reality Flight Simulator to Work | Aviation International News

Los Angeles Police Dept Puts VR Simulator to Work

Loft Dynamics device makes emergency training much more realistic

LAPD helicopter crew — The LAPD Air Support Division is unique, not only for the large area that the city encompasses but also because it keeps two helicopters in the air for most of each day, patrolling the department’s 21 divisions in three sectors. © Matt Thurber/AIN

By Matt Thurber • Editor-in-Chief

June 2, 2025

A trend has developed as the cost of sophisticated virtual reality (VR)-based flight simulators is encouraging aircraft operators to buy their own simulator instead of sending pilots to training centers. The Los Angeles Police Department’s Air Support Division (LAPD ASD) is one of the latest organizations to incorporate its own VR simulator, a Loft Dynamics Airbus AStar/H125, and the benefits are significant.

The LAPD ASD is unique, not only for the large area that the city encompasses but also because it keeps two helicopters in the air for most of each day, patrolling the department’s 21 divisions in three sectors. One sector is the San Fernando Valley, and it is covered by one AStar crew consisting of a police officer pilot and a tactical flight officer (TFO). Hollywood Hills and south of the I-10 freeway are the other two areas. The ASD operates 16 AStars, a former fire department Bell 412 used for tactical insertions, and a Beechcraft King Air turboprop based at Van Nuys Airport mostly used for prisoner transport.

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