This helicopter was constructed in the US in late-1980. It got it FAA aproval in 1981 and was registered N48AW. It was later sold to a Norwegian costumer, which gave it the registration LN-OQV.

The helicopter was imported to Sweden by SAAB Helikopter mid-1995. It was included in Polarhelikopter's fleet in 1996/1997 and put in service in Kiruna and Abisko, northern parts of Sweden. The helicopter was used for all kind of missions. However it spent most time on reindeer herding, tourist flights and aerial works. In 1999 Polar Helikopter decided to replace its fleet of two Hughes 500s (SE-JCH and SE-HLR) with two brand new EC 120s. The new machines (SE-JHA and SE-JHB) was delivered in 2000 and 2001, however SE-JCH had already been sold to the German company Team Air Flugservice GmbH, based in München, back in June 2000.

The German company operated the helicopter in approx a year before it was sold to a private person in New Castle, US, in June 2001. The private person was using the aircraft (reg. N2LY) for two years and one day, and then sold it to the Norwegian company Helikopterdrift AS in mid-2003.

The beautifully painted helicopter was operated by Helikopterdrift AS in Kjeller for a few years before it returned to Sweden in October 2007. This time purchased by Vilhelmina based Flygtjänst AB.

SE-JCH was operated by Flygtjänst o Helikoptertransport until February 2011, when the company was purchased by HeliAir Sweden. The aircraft was soon adopted into HeliAir's fleet. It was repainted into the company's harmonized Hughes 500 livery in 2015.

The helicopter was used for a wide range of operations, including aerial sawing, power line inspections, scenic tours, taxi and sling-load jobs.

In May 2016 HeliAir started to modernize its fleet. SE-JCH was one of the first helicopters to be sold, as it left for Finland in early May. The company quickly added two EC120s to its fleet (SE-JMP and SE-JRT).

SE-JCH was purchased by Heliwest Oy, which focuses in sawing and power line inspections.