GallagherAirMedRescueFireArticle

Wildfi re riderscoping with Dante’s other inferno

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£6 | €� | US$15 SPRING 200�

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In the line of fi reWITH US ARMY MEDEVAC PILOT

17 WINGJumping to the rescue with the Canadian Air Force

Hot GuamCareJet on life in the tropics

Emotional blackmail: safety and the decision to fl y

UnderpressureDr Terry Martin on

cabin pressurisation

Solo respondersA potential threat to

UK air ambulances

Editor-in-chief: Ian CameronEditor: Sarah LeeTitle editor: James Paul WallisAssistant editor: Mandy AitchisonDesigners: Eli Butler Steve AnnetteProduction manager: Helen WattsAdvertising sales: David Fitzpatrick James MillerFinance: Cathy Knott

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web: www.waypointmagazine.com

design: V Creative Design

Front page image courtesy of PA Photos

Published on behalf of Voyageur Publishing & Events LtdVoyageur Buildings, 43 Colston Street, Bristol BS1 5AX, UK

The information contained in this publication has been published in good faith and every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy. Neither the publisher nor Voyageur Ltd can accept any responsibility for any error or misinterpretation. All liability for loss, disappointment, negligence or other damage caused by reliance on the information contained in this publication, or in the event of bankruptcy or liquidation or cessation of the trade of any company, individual or fi rm mentioned, is hereby excluded.

Printed by Pensord Press Limited Copyright Voyageur Publishing 2008 Materials in this publication may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

WAYPOINT AIRMED & RESCUE MAGAZINE ISSN 1756-5170

Would you like to make a comment?Are you interested or involved in any aspect of the air medical or air rescue industry?

Whether you are a journalist or an industry professional with something to say, we would love to hear from you.

Call Ian Cameron at the Waypoint offi ces on +44 (0)117 922 6600 or: [email protected]

In this issue, we hear from two fi xed-wing air ambulance providers who have recently expanded their global reach, with AirMed setting up a new overseas base in Hong Kong (page 22) and CareJet moving into Guam (page 20). On the rotary side, we look at HEMS developments around the world, including a new ground ambulance policy in the UK which threatens to impact on air ambulance charities. For both sectors, safety is a key concern, as highlighted by the loss of a LifeGuard Alaska helicopter and crew in December (page 2�). The question is, what’s to blame, and what’s the solution?

Amy G McGuire levels the same question at aerial fi refi ghting (page 10), looking back at last year’s wildfi re

season, and asking whether there are the aircraft and organisational backup needed to douse the fl ames.

Speaking of fi re, Major Jeffrey Long tells of his experiences as a medevac pilot in the US Army in Iraq, Somalia and Germany (page 5�), ranging from medevac under enemy fi re to using his Black Hawk as an air crane.

If you have news or comments on any aspect of air medical or rescue services, we’d like to hear from you. I hope you enjoy reading issue one of Waypoint.

Happy fl ying!

James Paul Wallistitle editor

Welcome to the launch issue of Waypoint – Air Med & Rescue, the magazine for aeromedical and search and rescue professionals worldwide.

editorial comment

WAYPOINT AIRMED & RESCUE MAGAZINE

News 6

Technology 14

Fixedwing 18

Rotary 26

Commercialcarriers 38

Medicalcrew 39

Pilots 44

Airrescue 48

Maintenance 60

Bigglesgiggles 62

New AnalysisWildfireriders 10Have lessons been learned from this season’s fi res in California, Greece and Australia?

FeaturesToflyornottofly 34Karen Chamberlain looks at how to remove emotional blackmail from the decision to fl y

Inthelineoffire 56Major Jeffrey Long gives an insight into life as a US Army medevac pilot

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Lyssiemay Annoh has 10 years’ experience as editor of Executive Traveller magazine, and for six years managed fl ight operations for passenger charter and medical evacuations. She is also a teacher and project manager.

Karen Chamberlain is president of the Florida Air and Surface Transport Nurses Association, director of clinical services for Air Ambulance Professionals, and clinical supervisor at Baptist Air Transport Service, dealing with helicopter, fi xed-wing and ground transports. A certifi ed fl ight registered nurse, she has extensive experience in emergency fl ight medicine.

Steve Goodman is an award-winning multimedia writer with 25 years’ experience. He has written for television programmes on topical business currents, medical breakthroughs, lifestyle issues and cutting-edge civilian and military technologies. He is a regular contributor to several national publications and well-known websites.

Ian Lewis holds a PPL/IR, and for his day job is a writer and fi lm-maker. He has had four books published and regularly writes for magazines on subjects including aviation. As a fi lm-maker, he has written and directed over 350 productions of all kinds, including training and promotional work for aviation, medical, and military clients.

Major Jeffrey Long is currently serving as a brigade medical operations offi cer for the 36th Combat Aviation Brigade in Austin, Texas. He also served in Iraqi Freedom in Balad as air plans and medical operations offi cer in command from August 2006 to August 2007. Major Long has earned numerous US decorations and badges, including the Bronze Star Medal and Combat Action Badge.

Neil Jones is an award-winning former Trinity Mirror plc business editor, having been a staff journalist with Wales’s national morning newspaper, The Western Mail, for almost 20 years. For the last seven years he has been a regular freelance contributor to major national, regional and specialist business publications.

Amy McGuire has extensive aviation writing experience. She began her aviation career as the marketing communications co-ordinator for SimuFlite Training International. Amy is a member of Women in Aviation International and former public relations chair for the American Medical Writer’s Association.

Terry Martin is a former air force doctor and helicopter pilot. He has worked in every aspect of civilian and military fi xed-wing and helicopter aeromedical transport. He directs and teaches the University of Otago aeromedical retrieval and transport courses, as well as the Clinical Considerations in Aeromedical Transport, Medical Emergencies in Flight and the Helicopter Medical Flight Crew courses in the UK.

Bill Rose is a former Fleet Street photojournalist. He has written for science journals, technical publications and newspapers, and worked for several TV production companies as a background researcher. His book, Military Space Technology, is scheduled for release in mid-2008.

Sara Waddington is a freelance aviation and defence journalist. She was previously a managing editor for Janes Information Group for naval and maritime and edited aviation magazines such as Unmanned Vehicles and Air Ambulance at the Shephard Group for many years.

Wildfi re ridersHave lessons been learned from this season’s fi res in California, Greece and Australia?

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Have lessons been learned from this season’s fi res in California,

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Hot GuamCareJet feel the heat in their new base in Micronesia

Solo respondersWith UK ground ambulance services reacting to Government policy, will air ambulances charities be overstretched?

Emotional blackmailKaren Chamberlain looks at how to remove emotional blackmail from the decision to fl y

Under pressureDr Terry Martin on the whys and wherefores of cabin pressurisation

Parachute rescueWing 17, Canadian Air Force, jump to the rescue in frozen Ontario

In the line of fi reMajor Jeffrey Long on life as a US Army medevac pilot

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� NEWS NEWS NEWS


Cessna to develop intercontinental jetsCessna Aircraft, a subsidiary

of Textron, is to develop its first intercontinental executive jet. The move by Cessna will pit it directly against France’s Dassault, Canada’s Bombardier and Gulfstream of the US. According to Cessna, development costs for the range, to be called Citation Columbus, are expected to total around $750 million. The company said it is aiming for certification of the eight-seater jet by 2013, with the first delivery arriving a year later.

Cessna is currently the biggest manufacturer of business jets by volume, but has for the past several years concentrated its efforts in the light and mid-size jet sector, where it is the dominant

player. It is also one of the emerging leaders in the new segment of very

light jets, where its Citation Mustang already has a loyal following.

The Citation Columbus has been designed to overcome the group’s absence from the most lucrative section of the business jet market, where demand is stronger than ever in markets outside the US. Cessna say that order numbers from outside US territory accounted for 53 per cent of its total jet orders last year, which rose by 48 per cent to 773 jets. Lewis Campbell, Textron chief executive, said the planned range of larger cabin jets was ‘an important strategic step’ in the long-term goals of Cessna. Pratt & Whitney Canada has been selected to supply its PW810 range of engines for the Columbus

range, after tough competition from Rolls-Royce and Snecma.

Star Flight adds video laryngoscopeStar Flight, which operates

in Travis County, US, has recently added to its emergency medical service repertoire through the purchase of the GlideScope Ranger video laryngoscope. The Ranger can enhance the advanced airway capabilities of even the most seasoned flight medic or flight nurse,

according to the manufacture. The portable and compact video device provides the user with a clear view of a patients’ airway even under the direst of circumstances, including blood and oral secretions and awkward patient positioning. The integrated high-resolution camera and a 3.5-inch LCD monitor

provide real-time visual access to the traumatic airway.

Star Flight is the first aeromedical service in Texas, and the fourth in the US to use the technology. Using the GlideScope, Star Flight says employees are able to quickly and safely place an endotracheal tube in the patient’s airway on the first attempt.

Tourists rescued from Great Barrier ReefThirty-seven tourists have been

rescued by helicopter after their yacht ran aground in wild seas around the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. The group of young tourists were terrified after their boat struck rocks off the Whitsunday Islands in the middle

of the night and began taking on water. 30-knot winds produced huge waves, which broke the boat’s anchor and forced it onto rocks.

Rescuers from the Queensland Air Rescue Service responded to a mayday call and found the vessel listing dangerously at 45

degrees, and had to abandon plans to use boats or string a line to shore because of the nature of the conditions. Three Sea King helicopters were then called and used to winch the tourists off two at a time in an operation that took more than an hour. Tim Jones,

one of those rescued, said: “It was a really dangerous manoeuvre because they had to cut away all the rigging and sails to get the winch lines down. Some of the people airlifted off did actually hit the mast as they were going up but there were no serious injuries.”

More than 1,200 stranded passengers were airlifted by

the Indian Air Force (IAF) between Jammu and Srinagar on 11 February, after the closure of one of the main roads that links the two cities. The IAF used two aircraft, an IL-76 and an

AN-32 to help the civil administration as heavy snowfall forced the closure of the Srinagar-Jammu highway.

The state government took the decision to involve the Air Force to airlift those passengers that were stranded on or around the road. A

huge number of passengers then queued for the service. According to Lt Col SD Goswami, 505 civilian passengers were airlifted from Jammu to Srinagar, and 763 from Srinagar to Jammu; together with around 450 military personnel,

who were moved from Srinagar to Jammu. Goswami also said that Air Force aircraft were also operating from Udampur to airlift the stranded passengers from there – 245 civilians and 100 defence personnel were moved to Srinagar from the region.

Stranded passengers airlifted

The Cessna Columbus will have intercontinental capability Cessna

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NEWS �NEWSNEWS


Heli-TAWS standard on the horizon

The RTCA (Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics)

is working towards a standard for helicopter terrain avoidance warning systems (TAWS), according to a Thales spokesperson. An RTCA standard would make development of helicopter-specific TAWS commercially viable, says Thales vice-president Phil Naybour. The standard would give the avionics industry the assurance that systems they develop have the potential to be acceptable to regulators.

Thales already produces integrated TAWS systems for fixed-wing aircraft. A helicopter system would

need to be compact, light and lower in cost than a fixed-wing system, and would also need to reflect the different roles and operating environments of helicopters.

Thales is currently developing the avionics system for the Sikorsky S 76D and TAWS may be integrated into this package at a later date.

The International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST) says a cheap and effective helicopter TAWS could play an important part in reducing helicopter accidents. In 2005, the IHST announced an objective of reducing accidents worldwide by 80 per cent by 2015.

Nightmare sparks oil rig evacuation

The UK Royal Air Force (RAF) and Coast Guard assisted in

the evacuation of 161 people from a North Sea oil rig on 10 February, following a bomb scare sparked by an oil worker’s bad dream. Two RAF Sea Kings, Rescue 137 and Rescue 138 from RAF Lossiemouth, and a Coast Guard helicopter from Shetland airlifted workers to nearby platforms, along with five civilian Super Pumas and rescue boats.

A total of 539 staff evacuated the floating accommodation block of

the Safe Scandinavia oil platform, 115 miles off the Scottish coast. Transfers off the rig were halted when it emerged the alert was triggered by nothing more than rumours following one worker’s nightmare, which had spread around the ‘flotel’ and reached senior managers within an hour.

Inevitably, the UK media featured sensational reports of the incident, with the Metro saying the mass evacuation had wasted in excess £500,000 of public money.

However, as RAF spokesman Michael Molford told Waypoint, the RAF search and rescue helicopters are scheduled for 120 hours flying time per month in any case, which can be made up of operations or training. And what better training exercise than testing procedures in a live incident?

Dana Rosu, 23, appeared in Aberdeen Sheriff Court on a charge of breaching the peace on the flotel, and was remanded in a psychiatric hospital for evaluation.

Helicopter pioneer Frank Piasecki died on 11 February after falling

ill at his home. Mr Piasecki built his first helicopter in 1943, only the second American to do so, and went on to develop the Chinook and Sea King. His design for the Speed King, currently undergoing trials, replaces the tail rotor with a ducted fan to improve speed and manoeuvrability.

Yuma, US-based Silver State Air Rescue, formerly known as Sun

Care Air Ambulance, has ceased service, following parent company Silver State Helicopter’s declaration of bankruptcy at the beginning of February. Yuma will be served by Tri State Care Flight.

Figures obtained from the UK Ministry of Defence by the

Conservative Party show that only a third of military helicopters are fit for front-line duty; out of 40 Chinooks, 17 were said to be ‘fit for purpose’. The Conservatives blamed a £1.4 billion-cut in spending on helicopters, and said the shortage was sure to impact on capabilities in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Swiss firm Aerolite has announced it has received orders from

Norway’s Lufttransport for medical interiors for three Agusta Westland AW139s and eleven Beechcraft King Air B200s. The interiors will feature single and dual patient capabilities, integrated patient loading systems, and medical system and equipment integrations.

Rotorcraft Support Inc, of California, US, has announced it has

completed supplementary type certificate (STC) qualification to allow operators to replace OEM-supplied Bell 430 and Eurocopter EC130 NiCad batteries with the company’s no-maintenance sealed-cell lead acid battery.

The US Coast Guard Helicopter Rescue Swimmer Program has

celebrated its silver anniversary. The programme was set up on 12 February 1983, after the sinking of the SS Marine Electric, in which only three of thirty-four merchant mariners survived.

Following a recommendation by the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch

in a report on the failure of the horizontal stabiliser pitch trim system of a Challenger 604 in 2005, Bombardier has completed modifications to the horizontal stabiliser trim control units of all Challenger 604 jets. The failure was due to moisture ingress, according to the report.

Rotor monitoring system trialledStaffordshire, UK-based Ultra

Electronics PMES is developing a system to monitor rotor blades and give early warning of potential problems. The rotor track an balance system, named Helitrack, will begin flight trials in March, and the company is working towards Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) accreditation.

The system monitors rotor activity through a passive optical sensor fitted to the inside of the windscreen, which will operate in a wide range of weather conditions, including bright sunlight, says the company.

Information passes from the sensor to a data recorder along a fibre optic cable. PMES cites the fibre

optic cable as a design advantage, saying the cable is electronically and magnetically inert and will

not interfere with existing cockpit safety equipment.

Helitrak also collects data from a One-per-Rev sensor on the main rotor, and combined with data from the passive optical sensor this gives blade tip track, blade lead and lag, blade pitch and rotor RPM statistics. A further feature is a three-axis vibration centre mounted on the gearbox housing, to allow rotor balance monitoring and correction.

The Helitrack rotor blade monitoring system features an optical sensor fitted to the windscreen PMES

WAYPOINTS

� NEWS NEWS NEWS


Out of this worldThe dawn of affordable (well,

only $200,000 per ticket) space flight is drawing near, with Virgin Galactic recently unveiling designs for its space craft, SpaceShipTwo (SS2), and carrier aircraft, White Knight II (WK2), which could begin scheduled services as soon as 2010. The twin-fuselage turbofan powered WK2 will take SS2 to an altitude of 15,200 metres (50,000 feet); SS2 will then use rocket power to reach a height of 130 kilometres (400,000 feet), according to Virgin Galactic president Will Whitehorn.

Waypoint asked Virgin Galactic what preparations have been made regarding in-flight medical emergencies. Spokesperson Julia Tizard explained that to begin with at least, all passengers will have thorough medical evaluatations, including tests in a centrifuge, to establish their fitness to fly. There will be medical restrictions in place to minimise the risk of an emergency occurring in-flight, but, says Julia, the

company will aim to be as inclusive as possible. Although minimal

emergency medical equipment will be carried onboard SS2, passengers will

be able to return to Earth in just 20 minutes if an abort is required.

Artist’s impression of SpaceShip Two and its twin-fuselage carrier craft, WhiteKnight II Virgin Galactic

Pilot Shop Co. Inc., located in the republic of South Korea, has

awarded REB Technologies Inc. of Bedford, Texas, the contract for the night vision lighting modification of an AS350-B3. The modified helicopter will be used by a branch of the South Korean government, the Fire Aviation Corps.

REBTECH president Richard Borkowski stated that the contract calls for an in-country modification

in March 2008, with several additional aircraft modifications anticipated throughout this year and into next, which will include use of REBTECH’s Shadows STC lighting kits. The night vision lighting kits have been praised in the past for their superior illumination and sunlight readability and have also proven to be extremely reliable.

In addition to the lighting, the contract includes goggle training

for flight crews and observers, which will be conducted by Night Flight Concepts of Florida, an associate company of REBTECH.

REBTECH wins South Korea contract

Radio system will improve careNational Interop, Inc., a

provider of tactical and permanent communication systems, has announced that it has won the contract to significantly upgrade the radio system serving air ambulances across a 12-state region of the US. The new system is expected to be more reliable than previous systems, and it is hoped it will increase the quality of patient care by enabling better communications among medical flight crews, first responders and hospitals.

National Interop was awarded the contract by Air Evac Lifeteam, which is one of the largest independently owned air medical services in the US. The project will upgrade Air Evac’s current radio system to use open, standards-based Radio Over Internet Protocol (ROIP).

The system was designed after a thorough assessment of the air ambulance service’s current operations and needs, and a survey was conducted of the available technologies that could be used

for a radio system that must encompass a large geographic area at a reasonable cost. Following these investigations, National Interop recommended an underlying network implemented with Cisco routers as radio interfaces, and Twisted Pair Solution’s WAVE for standards-based ROIP software.

David Billstrom, CEO of the communications company, said of the deal: “One of our objectives in the design was to find a way to provide a completely redundant,

always-live second dispatch centre for Air Evac, should their primary dispatch facility in Missouri be disabled or destroyed in a disaster. Configuring additional users in a standards-based ROIP environment is so affordable, we will be transforming the existing dispatch equipment in their training academy from a mock-up of a typical dispatch environment to a fully equipped dispatch environment, ready to use as a backup dispatch centre at any moment.”

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NEWS �NEWSNEWS


Mice airlifted to ‘safety’In possibly the largest ever

emergency airlift of its kind, some 7,000 stranded mice were flown to their intended destination recently when the climate-controlled truck carrying them was halted by bad

weather. The mice, en route from the Jackson Laboratory, Maine, US, were subsequently packed 20 to a box and loaded onto three jets at Rock Springs-Sweetwater County Airport, Wyoming, according to

airport manager Gary Valentine. They were then flown to research labs in California, Washington and Canada – at an estimated cost of $100,000 to $250,000, said Kathy Vandegrift of Jackson Lab.

Think that’s odd? Turn to page 63

Gale force winds and stormy seas prompted British emergency services into several dramatic rescues recently, which required the co-ordination of services between the RAF, Navy and RNLI. Mandy Aitchison gets winched up

Rescue services all over the British Isles were called to

action recently when bad weather hit the west coast of the islands, affecting several ships. High winds, storms and rough seas left three vessels stranded in three separate locations, and emergency rescue services were called on from Ireland, Scotland and Wales in a concerted effort to safely retrieve all passengers and crew from the stricken ships.

In one of the incidents, fourteen people

were airlifted to safety by helicopter from a roll-on-roll-off lorry ferry in the Irish Sea, which ran aground on Blackpool beach, England. Three rescue helicopters arrived at the scene – an Irish Coastguard helicopter was joined by a Royal Navy Sea King from Gannett Flight at Prestwick, Scotland, and a Royal Air Force (RAF) Search and Rescue helicopter from C Flight, 22 Squadron based at RAF Valley, Wales. The MV Riverdance listed 60 degrees after running into difficulties seven miles off the coast of Lancashire in force 10 gales,

finally coming to rest on Blackpool beach.

The rescue operation also included two Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) boats, two rig support vessels and a tanker. The ferry, which was operated by Seatruck, was carrying four passengers and 19 crew between Northern Ireland and Heysham when it was hit by a freak wave, causing some cargo trucks to move, thus seriously unbalancing the ship. Jim Paton, operations manager with Her Majesty’s Coastguard (HMC), said the Welsh RAF helicopter

managed to winch four passengers and four crew members from the ship, who were then flown to Blackpool Airport. A Royal Navy helicopter was also used to transport six crew members to the airport.

RAF winchman Richard Taylor, who took

eight people off the deck, said: “I’ve seen some big seas out in the Atlantic but never any this hairy.” Pilot Flight Lieutenant Lee Turner added: “Being in the dark presented a challenge – we couldn’t see a horizon.” Flight Lieutenant Giles Ratcliffe described the challenge of winching from the heavily listing deck as ‘interesting’.

Meanwhile in the Atlantic, 200 miles west of the Isles of Scilly, an island group 28 miles from the

Helicopter heroes

RAF Valley Search and Rescue crew: (Left to right) Flt Lt Lee Turner, Flt Lt Giles Ratcliffe and Master Aircrew Richard Taylor

A winchman lowered from a Royal Navy Sea King Search and Rescue helicopter RAF

RAFcontinued on page 63 ➺

Emergency medevac for East Timor president The president of East Timor,

Jose Ramos Horta, was shot in the chest and stomach on 11 February by rebel soldiers at his home in Dili, in a failed coup attempt in the recently independent nation. Ramos Horta was flown to Australia for medical treatment by CareFlight International, who said at the time: “He is in a critical condition on full life support, with a ventilator for breathing and under

an induced coma.”East Timor, a nation of just over

one million people, is a former Portuguese colony that borders Indonesia and is off the northern coast of Australia. It gained independence in 2002 after years of Indonesian occupation. The recent attack has plunged the tiny country into fresh uncertainty, following the firing of 600 mutinous soldiers in 2006, which

triggered unrest that killed 37 people and displaced more than 150,000 others.

Ramod Horta had to undergo emergency surgery at an Australian army base in East Timor before being flown to the northern Australian city of Darwin for further treatment, according to Ian Badham, a spokesman for CareFlight International. The manager of the Royal

Darwin Hospital said Ramos Horta had been infused with 16 units of fresh blood, but doctors were hopeful of a ‘very good recovery’. “The abdominal injury is very straightforward, I understand, but there is some concern about his chest injuries,” said Dr Len Notoras. “His vital signs are all very stable and I understand before he was sedated, he was speaking in a very clear frame of mind.”

news analysis10


Wildf ire riders– coping with Dante’s other infernoThe 200� fire season was an exercise in destruction, with hundreds of thousands of acres of land torched in California, Greece, and Australia, where the bushfires still rage. Amy G McGuire looks into the equipment, costs and lessons learned in aerial firefighting

Last year’s wildfires were the most expensive in California’s history, burning more than 500,000 acres, destroying about 2,000 homes and causing the evacuation of nearly one million people. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles, Orange, Poway, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. Californians must ask themselves: what are the causes, costs, and future considerations? Or do they simply surrender and accept their compromised position?

As the leading lady, Mother Nature features some powerful action scenes in the form of lightning strikes, fierce and unforgiving winds,

winters without precipitation, and extremely dry summers, even in beautiful Southern California. And putting out the fire with the Santa Ana winds gusting up to 110 kilometres per hour is no easy feat. These dry, warm Santa Ana winds in Southern California and Northern Baja often make the coastal areas warmer than the deserts, driving humidity to less than 15 per cent, and when the Santa Ana winds channel through mountain passes, they approach hurricane force. This combination of wind, heat and dryness turns the chaparral into explosive fuel. The usual tactic of surrounding the fire on two sides and choking it off is ineffective; the gusting wind carries embers miles ahead of the fire’s front line, which prevents crews from reaching the flames, who know the Santa Anas could shift at any second, engulfing them in the unforgiving furnace of fire.

Southern California has little rain in the hot summer and autumn months, leading to a build-up of dead trees and bushes. Fires are a normal part of the natural cycle, clearing out the dead plants and creating ash that fertilises the soil, contributing to the flourishing of new plants

news analysis 11


and trees. But with the building of million-dollar luxury homes on the hills just outside major metropolitan areas, these smaller fires are normally extinguished immediately. As a result, dead trees and brush build up, which has to be physically removed to prevent fires. Despite the warnings of experts, none of the layers of government – federal, state or local – budgeted the money necessary for fire prevention, which starts with clearing away all the dead trees and chaparral that constitutes the fires’ prime fuel.

FirefightingWhether you blame Mother Nature

or the human factor for the fires, help to fight them is greatly needed. Regardless of the causes, people care – even the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco allowed about 4,000 state prison inmates to help tackle the fires from the ground. In addition, on 22 October, Governor

Arnold Schwarzenegger directed 1,500 National Guard troops for firefighting missions.

Surely the best way to combat these wildfires, however, is from the air. The aircraft used to fight the California fires make a diverse list. During the fire season, the military dispatched six UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from border duty, along with two CH-47 Chinooks. A California Guard Sikorsky S-70 Firehawk also joined the battle.

The Air National Guard reinforced the fight from the air with four C-130 Hercules Military Airborne Fire Fighting Systems from North Carolina and Wyoming. In addition, two Navy MH-60S ‘Seahawk’ helicopters, equipped with 420-gallon Bambi buckets, worked in coordination with civilian fire fighters.

Coming to the aid of displaced residents, Coast Guard Hercules crews provided residents with over 35,000 pounds of emergency supplies, with an additional 15,000 pounds of blankets, portable beds and

other emergency supplies. In a joint mission with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Coast Guard crews committed to fly

these humanitarian missions until the wildfire threat was resolved.

At the city level, local departments were stretched to their limits, but were able to fight the blazes with the help of Los Angeles County Fire Department Air Operations, which flew over 160 hours and dropped 270,000 gallons of water and foam with its fleet of Bell 412 helicopters in one week alone.

In San Diego, Copter 1, the Fire-Rescue Department Air Operations Division’s Bell 212HP helicopter, worked non-stop, dropping water, transferring injured residents and firefighters, and flying reconnaissance missions. In early 2007, the Division began staffing seven days a week and became one of the few units in the

nation trained to conduct night-time aerial water dropping missions. Copter 1 operated without interruption over the 10,000-plus acres that burned within the City of San Diego from the moment the fires started.

In Ventura County, the Sheriff’s Department dispatched its Super Hueys, dropping 75,000 gallons of water in 200 sorties within 30 flight hours.

Help came from long distances as well. Leased from Quebec, two CL-415 Super Scooper firefighting planes were on standby in Los Angeles County. The largest firefighting bomber plane in the world, a Martin Mars waterbomber, flew in from Vancouver Island, with a payload nearly five times greater than the Super Scoopers – 7,200 gallons. Originally built for the US Navy in 1945, the JRM Martin Mars can ‘wet-blanket’ four acres per drop, covering it with 30 tons of water, foam or gel. And Last October, Kaman Aerospace delivered two of the company’s K-MAX firefighting helicopters, which

saved a large youth camp/school in the Lake Arrowhead area by dipping water from their pool. The flames came within 100 feet of the buildings, but 100 drops in under two hours saved several buildings.

UAV supportFire crews battling the wildfires

sweeping across Southern California were joined by a new colleague: a pilotless plane based on military technology. Onboard infrared sensors relay data about the fires, via satellite, to firefighters on the ground. The drone is called the Ikhana, which means ‘intelligent’ in the Native-American Choctaw language. The 36-foot long drone is controlled by

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger described weather conditions as ‘the perfect storm for a fire’ US Army

A National Guard Black Hawk, Montgomery Airfield in San Diego, California, October 2007 US National Guard

news analysis12


technicians at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert.

“The infrared sensors can penetrate smoke and relay crucial data about the fire-size, intensity and the direction to crews on the ground,” said Everett Hinkley, programme leader with the US Forest Service’s Remote Sensing

Applications Center in Salt Lake City. “The drones can stay airborne much longer than conventional aircraft – up to 20 hours.”

Despite these advances, the basic strategy of fighting a wildfire has not changed in decades. “Fundamentally, the way we put out fires is the same

as it was 70 years ago,” said Murry Taylor, a former firefighter and author of Jumping Fire. “Yes, we have better tools, the fire engines are bigger, the crews are better trained and the aircraft are more modern. But we’re dealing with Mother Nature, and she dances a mean boogie.”

Fanning the flamesFighting the California fires required

teams from different agencies, both in the air and on the ground. The media has picked up on heroic efforts from many involved – however, the coordination of the operations has been criticised. According to an Associated Press (AP) report, on 26 October 2007 in Los Angeles, nearly two dozen water-dropping helicopters and two massive cargo planes sat idle, grounded by government bureaucracy. Under a State of California rule, a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection ‘fire spotter’ must accompany each military helicopter to coordinate water or retardant drops. Although 19 helicopters were ready to fly, the crews lacked the required fire spotter to accompany their flight. The initial decision to abandon the state policy requiring one spotter per aircraft was later modified to one spotter per squadron of three helicopters. Unfortunately, by the time the helicopters were airborne, the area burned had quadrupled to more than 390 square miles, and the number of homes destroyed jumped from 34 to more than 700.

The fire departments in Southern California, as well as the federal fire system for the national forests, is hit by one budget cut after another. Because of staffing and equipment problems, they have trouble dealing with the normal levels of fires, not to speak of the vast emergencies in late October.

What lessons have we learned? According to the Southern California Firestorm 2003 Report for the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center, prepared by Mission-Centered Solutions in Colorado, pre-incident planning – which included route control planning – was essential to effective evacuation compared to those areas that did not conduct extensive pre-incident planning. Another important lesson: personal responsibility. The report stated that educating residents about actions to take prior to evacuating their home and routes to follow is critical. Many believe that residents who choose to live in these areas should take responsibility for their choices and bear the true costs.

John N. Maclean, author of The Thirtymile Fire, has concluded the following: “Western wildfires are becoming bigger, more frequent, and more damaging. Driven by drought, global warming, a surging population, Santa Ana winds, wild-land fuels built up over decades and other factors, Southern California’s fire problem will grow larger, not smaller, in the coming years. The conflict between people and fire is accelerating faster in Southern California than anywhere else in the nation. Of the 450,000 people estimated to have moved into previously wild areas so far this decade, about 240,000 – more than half – have chosen Southern California.”

Maclean added that the Santa Ana winds and lightning-started wildfires have been part of this southwestern landscape for millennia. Residents need to accept that such wildfires are part of life, and the government needs to spend money on preparedness and planning, rather than putting out fires. Let the fires burn naturally, he says. It seems that money could be saved by not fighting these fires, and instead tightening and enforcing regulations for clearing brush in fire zones.

In a 2003 Los Angeles Times newspaper editorial, the inconsistent and insufficient brush clearance in specific fire zones was noted: “In San Bernardino County, where homeowners are required to clear only 30 feet of brush around woodland homes each spring, flames tore across 150,000 acres and through more than 900 dwellings. Ventura County, which requires a 100-foot clearance, lost just 38 homes even though more than 172,000 acres burned. Not one house was lost in Los Angeles County’s Stevenson Ranch, which requires fire-retardant roofs and 200-foot buffers.”

Is it worth it?The costs associated with fighting

fires are extreme. The average annual budget for fighting wild-land fires in California has tripled since 2000 and federal spending is $3 billion per year. In 2007, the US Forest Service spent 45 per cent of its budget on wild-land fire suppression. In 2006, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spent $206.3 million dollars fighting 4,805 fires, losing 431 structures at an estimated cost of $60.2 million in damages. In 2006, five firefighters were killed battling a Southern California mountain fire. Cancelled or delayed flights rippled through the national air-traffic system. Taking water from the facility’s pool, a Kaman K-Max helped save a school from the flames Kaman

California wildfires, October 2007 NASA

news analysis 13


Some argue that fighting forest fires is not the best use of resources or funds. In 1996, a former Fire Department vegetation management official said: “There is, without exception, no reason for a structure to be consumed by wildfire. When these fires break out, millions of dollars are spent per 24-hour period employing retardant-dropping fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, and hundreds of fire engines and firefighters in a vain attempt to save structures that, with forethought, could have survived even the highest intensity blaze.”

Europe on fireWhile California extinguished

its flames, other parts of the world were dealing with the effects of their own fires. From Greece to Spain, land and lives have been consumed by flames. In fact, the Spanish government recently bolstered their water bomber fleet by ordering two Bombardier 415s, which increases its fleet of the amphibious firefighting aircraft to 22. Since the first Bombardier 415 amphibious aircraft was delivered in 1994, 66 have been delivered to firefighting agencies in Canada, Croatia, France, Greece, Italy and Spain.

In Greece, from 28 June 2007 to 3 September 2007, 670,000 acres were burned and 79 lives were lost, including two pilots. Some of the Greek firestorms are believed to have been the result of arson, while others were the result of mere negligence. Hot temperatures, including three consecutive heat waves of over 40ºC (105ºF), and severe drought rendered

the 2007 summer unprecedented in modern Greek history. From the end of June to early September, over 3,000 forest fires were recorded across the nation.

The EC225 and the EC725 were used to extinguish the 2007 Greek forest fires – the worst fire season on record in the past 50 years – which

were a series of massive infernos that destroyed 1,000 homes and other buildings throughout the summer. “All of the equipment on the EC725 serves a purely military purpose [weaponry, optronic turret, countermeasures] and was removed from the aircraft, which then corresponded to an EC225 configuration,” according to the EADS subsidiary.

The aircraft, which is stationed at Bastia-Poretta, was fitted with a firefighting system developed by Eurocopter, consisting of a flexible 4,000-litre (1050 US gallon) tank attached to the floor of the cabin and a scoop and water jettison kit. Eurocopter plans to deliver the first firefighting-configured EC225

helicopter some time this year.In addition, Greece is reported to

have signed a contract for 14 Beriev Be-200s in firefighter mode, which can scoop up 12 tonnes of water in just 14 seconds, marking the first export order of the Russian twin-turbo-fan amphibious plane.

Australia bolsters fleetAustralia has also had its share of

wildfires, with drought and high winds stoking the flames. The emergency services are gearing up for the fight, though, and Western Australia’s water bombing capacity will be significantly bolstered with a new helicopter landing in Perth this bushfire season. Recently used to fight the Californian fires, the Fire King will assist with bush fires across the state, where its water capacity and ability to penetrate the tree canopy will be most effective.

Police and Emergency Services Minister John Kobelke said the government was committed to ensuring the state’s firefighting

equipment was state-of-the-art. “This helicopter can carry close to 4,000 litres of water, which is four times the amount the helitacs can carry,” Mr Kobelke said. “In addition, the new helicopter will allow a greater ability to attack fires in a sustained fire bombing operation with the ability to refill in 30 seconds. The Fire King will support the current firefighting fleet of four helitacs, an air intelligence helicopter and the Department of Environment and Conservation’s (DEC) eight fixed-wing water bombers, which are based throughout the Southwest. It is estimated that $9 million worth of structural assets were saved and a further $41 million protected by the helitacs when they were utilised to assist ground crews at close to 150 bush fires in 2006.”

The state government has provided $1.3 million for the Fire King trial, with $900,000 coming from Australia’s National Aerial Firefighting Centre. While the air fleet will greatly enhance the emergency services’ ability to tackle fires, there is only so much that can be done to fight a bushfire, and it is up to residents to ensure their properties are prepared.

“We can’t have a firefighter at every door or helitacs protecting every house during a fire,” Mr Kobelke said. “Residents need to support their local firefighters by taking time to clear their property of potential fuel, creating at least a 20-metre circle of safety and sitting down with their families to decide what action they will take if a bush fire threatens.”

Personal responsibility: perhaps the rest of the world could heed that lesson.

Harris Fire burning down Mount Miguel in San Diego County, US - October 2007 David S Roberts

A modular fire fighting system being loaded onto a 145th Airlift Wing C-130 Hercules US National Guard

14 TECHNOLOGY


Air Cruisers adds to liferaft inventoryUS-based Air Cruisers Company

has been awarded another Supplementary Type Certificate for its growing pneumatically activated product line. In response to market demand, it has partnered with Era Helicopters in Louisiana to develop a six-person, TSO-approved liferaft system that mounts in the helicopter’s

right-hand cargo extender. The raft uses state-of-the-art pneumatic activation to allow anyone inside the aircraft to remotely deploy the raft through a modification in the cargo extender door.

Patrick Nasdeo, sales manager for Air Cruiser’s helicopter product line, noted: “This liferaft is TSO-C70a-

approved, totally modular for use with any float system on the market regardless of manufacturer and has triple redundancy in activation with two pneumatic activators mounted inside the cockpit and one externally to the cargo extender.” He continued by stating that the liferaft system mounts internally, so there

is no loss of speed or performance due to an adverse impact on aerodynamics. Once deployed, it inflates to full round out and is boardable in less than 10 seconds. More importantly, it provides a solution to the problem of getting the liferaft out of cabin safely, without impacting on performance.

Collision warning system launchedDespite the Visual Flight Rules

of ‘see and avoid’, around 20 collisions are reported every year in general aviation worldwide. And most of these collisions occur during the day, when light and visibility is usually at its best, according to Flarm, a manufacturer of flight technology. Thus, Flarm has created an affordable collision warning system for general aviation and for recreational flying. The company says it is the

only alternative to the traffic alert and collision avoidance system (TCAS), which is used mostly by commercial, turbine-powered craft.

The device has been designed specifically to minimise nuisance alarms, even in high traffic density. Since its inception in 2004, Flarm-compatible devices have been installed in aircraft all over the world, and have been credited with increasing situational awareness and avoiding dangerous

situations. In 2007, the World Air Sports Federation awarded the company the Prince Alvaro de Orleans-Borbon prize for ‘technical advances in the field of sporting aviation’.

The new Flarm device receives position and movement information from an internal GPS receiver in the aircraft. The future flight path of the host aircraft is then predicted. This data is subsequently broadcast by radio on licence-

free SRD band, from where it is received and processed by all other Flarm units within range. Incoming aircraft trajectories are then compared to the unit’s own prediction, and the threat level determined based on the estimated time to convergence. In addition, the device contains a database of known static obstacles, such as electric power cables, and during the flight constantly scans the flight path for potential hazards.

15TECHNOLOGY


Swivel adapters launched for abseil deviceSome years ago, the Hessen

police in Germany were the first to use the fixed External Abseil Device (EAD01) on its EC145s, and since then many other organisations have followed in its footsteps. Now, the team behind the EAD01, ecms Aviation Systems, has designed retractable interface adapters (RIAs) that turn the fixed arm of the EAD01 into a swivelling device, simply by clicking them between the helicopter and the EAD01. The addition is simple to fit and does not require the use of any tools.

The RIAs are said to greatly improve the operation value of the already versatile helicopter,

especially when it is being used for fast roping operations, thanks to the creation of an approximate one-foot distance between the rope and helicopter skid. This enables crews to perform rappelling missions for SWAT and rescue teams, with up to four ropes per helicopter simultaneously or fast roping with skid clearance using two ropes per helicopter, as well as human external cargo operations with the new LifeLine device. Extension of the ropes can be made while in flight and is a one-handed operation. Once again, it is the Hessen police that is the first organisation to receive the new interface adapters

for its EC145s, although the device can also be fitted to EC135s. Several police special forces teams (SEKs) from Frankfurt and Kassel recently attended an exercise with the Police Helicopter Squadron Hessen, practising fast roping with the new device. ecms Aviation Systems is an EASA certified design and production organisation specialising in load attachment devices and human external cargo devices, holding several patents for twin rope systems used on a daily basis in mountain rescue operations.

Basket to speed mass rescue

Third ZR Lite installed

If you were to list the limitations of the rescue helicopter, lack

of space and the slow business of winching – almost always limited to one survivor at a time – would surely come near the top. Tom Clode of Helicopter Logistics Support (HLS) is convinced that the answer to this lies not in bigger helicopters and a forest of winch wires, but a distinctly low-tech metal cage – HLS prefers the word ‘basket’ – that can carry up to 16 people at a time. Given the right conditions, the Heli-Basket can take such a group aboard in a minute or less, while winching them up

individually might have taken more than half an hour.

Currently the smallest in the Heli-Basket range weighs just over 300 kilogrammes (660 pounds) yet has a payload of nearly 2,050 kilogrammes (4,500 pounds). A smaller four to six person basket is in development. Medium-twin helicopters such as the Bell 412 are the most likely carriers. The basket allows access through full-width end gates, and can accommodate able-bodied, walking wounded or the more seriously injured, says HLS. On its way to the incident scene, it can also carry specialist equipment

such as fire-fighting kit.While it has a role in large-scale

maritime rescues, the basket is also aimed at the urban ‘Towering Inferno’ scenario – one for which most emergency services remain woefully ill-equipped, according to Clode: “The helicopter remains the only way of getting people off a building above a fire site or rising flood. A standard fireman’s escape ladder will reach no higher than the seventh floor – and that’s if it can get close enough to the wall.”

According to Clode, there’s a case for siting a basket on the roof of every tower block, and

at military or Civil Defence bases near areas vulnerable to flooding. The US Army National Guard is now acquiring baskets in substantial numbers, says Clode, and HLS is hoping to receive EASA certification this summer, which the company says will aid marketing in Europe.

Raisbeck Engineering has announced completion of

the third installation of its ZR

Lite Performance System and Aft Fuselage Locker on Skyservice’s fleet of Learjet 35/36. Skyservice Inc. is a

business aviation, air ambulance and charter airline, operating more than 50 business and airline aircraft.

Pat Renaud, Skyservice’s chief pilot, commented: “With ZR Lite we experience a better climb during hot or icy temperatures and we have noticed significant fuel savings. We are also able to utilise one crew since it allows us to turn one-stop trips into non-stop trips.”

The performance system increases allowable take-off weight under such limiting conditions as higher altitude airports

and shorter sea-level runways and includes recontoured trailing edge flaps, outboard trailing edge horizontal winglets and wing leading edge vortilons, giving ‘a totally new take-off speed schedule and a new 14-degree flap setting for improved take-off performance’.

Rasibeck says the Aft Fuselage Locker improves aerodynamics by reducing drag-generating vortices and presenting greater tail area, giving the aircraft increased ventral fin effect. And, of course, it can be used for stowing equipment – it has a maximum capacity of 300 pounds, which is, says Raisbeck, ‘enough for 396 cans of Campbell soup with room left for crackers’.Pat Renaud, chief pilot at Skyservice, with ZR Lite enhanced Learjet

Frankfurt SEK team assess the new RIA02 interface adapters

Raisbeck Engineering

ecms

1� TECHNOLOGY


Help at hand for intermittent wiring faultsIn November, Astronics launched

its new ARCSAFE wiring fault detection system, which the company says is designed to ‘quickly and preemptively locate hard-to-find intermittent shorts and opens in complex aircraft wiring’.

Leann Hurst, manager of marketing and communications for

Astronics AES, explained: “New technology incorporated

in Astronics’ ARCSAFE system product line not

only detects typical open and shorted wiring, it also locates

intermittent faults associated with wiring

insulation defects or failures”.

A patented non-destructive inspection (NDI) technique – pulse arrested spark discharge (PASD) – allows the ARCSAFE system to accurately locate breached insulation, chaffing and insulation cracks within inches of the damage. Location is depicted on a three-dimensional display of the aircraft for pinpoint accuracy.

Aircraft innovation is never ending. Back in the Korean War,

a ride on an air ambulance could mean being strapped into an open litter on the outside of a Bell 47. Technology has moved on – these days patients generally have the luxury of travelling inside the cabin, being loaded aboard either while you’re landed or picked up by winch.

So, what’s next? Olive Engineering says it has the answer – a cross between a helicopter and a lift, where the whole passenger cabin can be winched to the ground.

CEO Nehemia Cohen told Waypoint he believes the Elcopter ‘represents one of the most significant milestones in the history of helicopters since Leonardo da Vinci unveiled his saucer-shaped gondola in the 15th century’.

Cohen, an aeronautical engineer with decades of R&D experience in aviation, said the idea for Elcopter grew out of his engineering studies at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. It was just two years ago, however, that he formed a company to commercialise the idea.

The patent-pending design ‘divides’ a standard helicopter in two. Using cables and winches, a detachable, secure autonomous ‘cabin’ descends from the fuselage. While the helicopter hovers, the pilot – or someone inside the cabin – can navigate the cabin independently. ‘Advanced electro-optical tracking’ guides the unit and allows ‘pinpoint navigational accuracy’ by locking on to a target location.

Olive says the Elcopter design overcomes stability problems through its ‘independent thruster system’

to maintain horizontal stability, and a winch to control vertical motion. Depending on the helicopter type and configuration, the cabin could hold ‘between six and 30 people’, becoming a portable medevac, SAR, or equipment storage unit.

According to Cohen, the Elcopter will give ‘new opportunities for helicopter-based rescue operations’: “We can access everywhere, from densely populated urban settings to rugged mountainous terrains, to ships, to canyons.” Now, why didn’t Leonardo think of that?

Ever wanted a detachable cabin?

Certificate awarded to MD Explorer engine filter

The IBF system manufacturer Aerospace Filtration Systems,

Inc. (AFS), a division of Donaldson Company, says the approval allows operators of MD900 Explorer series helicopters to achieve greater performance and maintenance

benefits as well as improved engine protection. In particular, it means operators of MD900 helicopters will now be able to run them with no engine inlet imposed flight or gross weight restrictions, states AFS.

Inlet bypass capability is achieved

using the existing MDHI bypass system, part of the Inlet Particle Separator (IPS) modification. In the case of the MD900, Donaldson/AFS already provide both the IPS and the IBF to MD Helicopters for production aircraft. The new IBF

system is also available as a factory fit option on the MD900/902 Explorer.

The manufacturer is now in the process of seeking approval for the IBF design from the European Aviation Safety Agency, to allow the system to be targeted at non-US operators.

AW139 nose gear door kit approvedDART Helicopters, the US-

based sales, marketing and manufacturing company, has announced that its subsidiary, Apical Industries Inc., has received Federal Aviation Authority approval for its Nose Landing Gear Door Kit for AB139/AW139 helicopters. Further approvals from Transport Canada and

the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) are pending.

According to DART, the Apical Nose Landing Gear Doors Kit provides a complete bolt-on solution that reduces drag and cabin noise associated with an open-front wheelhouse. The doors are built from a lightweight carbon-fibre material

with closed cell foam cores, which, says the company, will improve service life and also resist water absorption. The doors are sold primed and ready for paint, while the machined linkage components come anodized, primed and painted in order to protect against corrosion. The doors can be installed as a stand-

alone or replacement kit and use factory provisions found on all aircraft, so no permanent modifications need to be made to the airframe.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded a Supplemental Type Certificate for a new inlet barrier filter (IBF) system for the MD900 Explorer series manufactured by MD Helicopters. Neil Jones has the details

1�TECHNOLOGY


For some time now, Whelen Engineering has been making

cutting-edge light emitting diodes (LEDs) for use as an alternative light source to halogen/xenon strobe and high intensity discharge (HID) technology to aircraft manufacturers. Though usually a slow process, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) worldwide have taken notice of the LED’s ability to exceed Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) light output requirements, to illuminate for landing and taxi, to decrease weight, electrical load and

to offer product life that is rare in any industry.

EMS and rescue helicopter operators are now being offered the

new Class I LED Beacon, 71080, which reduces beacon

weight by half a pound (227 grams) over the 70905 LED beacon that has been offered for nearly four years. The

mounting base of 71080 is one

inch (25.4 mm) less in diameter

as well, giving it an improved fit on Eurocopter

and Bell vertical stabilisers. Developed for a Goodrich,

Whelen LED’s (Model 71125) can now be added to this hoist system, lighting the cable system and the hoist environment. Units are being shipped to OEMs now for aircraft being delivered this year.

Custom lighting packages for a variety of manufacturers are also in progress at Whelan - these custom packages will be landing/taxi or recognition lights built into the geometry of the aircraft. Traditionally packaged, round LED Illumination products are now available, along with electronic pulse light flashers for recognition. Landing and taxi

lights are not regulated by the FAA or JAA, so operators are encouraged to contact their aircraft OEM to determine if they’re

considering LED technology on your model aircraft. LED Illumination cannot replace PAR Lamps without governing approval (from the

FAA/JAA/OEM) that were type certified

with your aircraft.

Lighting the skies

Whelen has for ten years promoted and developed the LED for our Automotive warning light products and now has more than 40 million LEDs in its product line up.

Greg Ginnetti casts some light on the increasing use of LEDs to replace traditional aircraft lighting, and details some of the newest units available

Med-Pac, Inc.PO Box 5, 2093 South 2nd Street, Lake Park, MN 56554, USAToll free (US only): 866 875 8068 Tel: (001) 218 238 5100Fax: (001) 218 238 5102 Email: [email protected]

Lightweight, Quick-change, Medical Interiormedpac_hlf warm1.indd 1 13/2/08 09:53:59

FIXED WING1�


Sean Culligan of AMREF Flying Doctor Service, based in Nairobi, Kenya, gives an inside view of the impact of the violence that erupted in December following the disputed general elections

The Kenya election of 2002 was hailed throughout the

world as a model of the democratic process in action. A smooth transition from the party that had held total power for over 21 years passed peacefully to a loose coalition predominantly on an anti-corruption manifesto.

Five years later, the 2007 election has been universally condemned, both inside and out of the country, with the European

Union describing the election process as badly flawed and failing to meet international standards. As a result of a violent reaction against the perceived rigging of votes, over 600 people died and nearly 300,000 people throughout out the country were displaced in a little over a week of inter-tribal fighting. Homes, shops, business were burnt and looted.

In the midst of the chaos, AMREF Flying Doctor Service joined the humanitarian and relief efforts alongside its medical evacuation work, particularly in Western Kenya where clashes had been devastating for the people who had lost their properties and livelihoods. Requests poured in from partners and other organisations demanding updates on the security situation, advice on the possibility of non-medical evacuation to safe areas and a host of other queries.

Over a seven-day period at the start of the new year, at the height of the violence and chaos, Flying Doctors, in collaboration with Phoenix Aviation, was involved in a total of 28 flights, 10 of them medical evacuation flights directly

related to the intertribal riots, and 18 non-medical evacuation flights, relocating local people from their devastated home areas to hurriedly established refugee centers or assisting in moving expatriate staff to safe areas. Many of these flights were performed at no charge, part of AMREF’s commitment to supporting the poor and needy in Kenya.

As the situation remains uncertain, The United Nations (UN) Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that nearly half a million people will need assistance in the coming weeks and months. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has begun distributing food to 33,000 people around Nairobi. While humanitarian aid seems to be reaching most of the people affected, the country’s general situation will remain volatile as long as the political crisis continues.

Although industry and infrastructure has suffered, important services, such as hospitals, transportation systems, communications and the majority of the supplies, remain unaffected.

Crisis in Kenya - an inside view

US-based Marlin Air has filed a lawsuit against the University of Michigan, asking for more than $1 million in remuneration for terminating its contract after a plane crash in 2007 that killed six members of an organ transplant team. Marlin Air was under contract with the university to provide fixed-wing air ambulances for its survival flight missions. Six men, including two Marlin pilots and four employees of the university, were all killed when their Cessna crashed into Lake Michigan shortly after take-off. The university employees had just managed to procure organs for transplant into a patient at the university hospital.

Scott Erskine, representing Marlin in the legal struggle, said the university did not terminate the contract properly, as investigations by the Federal

Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) did not show any wrongdoing on the part of Marlin. At the time of the accident, the contract still had more than two years and $1 million left to go.

In a straightforward statement, the University made its position clear: “In order to maintain the commitment to provide the best care possible to our patients and their families, the University of Michigan Health System had to obtain service from other fixed-wing providers. Marlin Air did not have the ability to provide the service required by our institution.”

Erskine has argued that the contract was terminated by the hospital a mere day after Marlin said it was training two new pilots to join the transport team. “Despite an impeccable track record,” he told

the press, “the university terminated the contract with Marlin Air shortly after the crash, citing only the ‘tragic circumstances that

resulted in the crash’ as the reason for termination.” This, he said, had no basis in fact or law for the termination of the contract.

Michigan University sued by Marlin

FIXED WING 1�


Hawker Beechcraft Corporation (HBC) has

recently announced the sale of five Beechcraft King Air B350Cs to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Already outifitted with the Lifeport medical service, the local airport will be used for Ministry of Defence and Aviation medical evacuation transport purposes throughout the Kingdom. Deliveries of the aircraft will begin in June this year, and they will be based in Riyadh.

Ted Farid, vice-president of new business development for Hawker, said the sales are a reflection of the strength of the plane in the special mission role, and added: “It has proven its value through constant refinement, mission effectiveness and rock-solid reliability.”

The King Air B350C is the cargo version of the commercial aircraft, which includes a wide cargo door that ensures stretcher patients can be positioned in the aircraft in the easiest possible way. The interiors

are fully equipped with overhead medical service modules to secure patient monitoring equipment.

Major General Hamad Hassoun, director of medevac for the Ministry of Defence and Aviation,

said: “We evaluated a number of aircraft around the world for this mission and no other aircraft available could meet our needs for operations in and out of unimproved airports with the

loads the King Air 350 can carry.” He went on to comment that the combination of cabin volume, speed and endurance offered by the King Air is invaluable to a medevac mission.

Saudi orders Medevac King Airs

The US Indian Health Service (IHS) has given the go ahead for Private Air Shuttle Network (PASN) to compete with other air ambulance services in South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa, according to PASN’s CEO John Warnock. The move to allow the company to serve more reservations will bring emergency health care one step closer for isolated American Indians.

The Sioux Falls-based firm began carrying passengers in January 2007, Missions have mainly been to Pine Ridge, but the new IHS deirective will see expansion first to the Rosebud reservation, according to Warnock.

PASN to serve more American Indian reservations

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CareJet reports on life in the Western Pacific and its newly opened base on Guam

A badly injured Ukrainian tourist sprawls inside a hot van parked by the Pohnpei, Micronesia airport after an inter-island fishing trip hits a disastrous snag. In a van. Not an ambulance. A van with no ventilator. No medical supplies. No emergency first responders to stabilise him for a safe hand-off. Just bleeding it out in the sun till help arrives.

In a turn of serendipity, an off-duty doctor happens to be in Pohnpei en route to the Philippines and monitors the mangled angler as best he can while CareJet, the region’s newly commissioned, first-and-only air ambulance, rushes to the rescue from its home base on the US Territory of Guam, a four-hour flight away. Then finally to Manila, where the fortunate fisherman is stabilised under world-class care at St Luke’s Medical Center.

Welcome to remote, sub-rural Micronesia. To the healthy vacationer, a tropical island paradise. To the severely sick or injured, an Eden tempting perdition. And to the pilots, the nurses and the medical technicians who staff the medevacs, an adventure worth a bundle of regaling tales.

“In some of these islands, medical supplies are so limited that local hospitals actually reuse their disposables!” says Karen Dumchus, chief flight nurse for CareJet. “That’s why we double up on supplies – drugs, urinals, nasal cannulas, portable oxygen, antiseptics, gauze, bandages, you name it. Because we know when we arrive to a remote island, we’re going to have to make

up for whatever they lack on the ground.”

Just keeping a patient cool can be a challenge. CareJet’s inaugural voyage was to Hawaii and included a 45-minute refueling stop in the Marshall Islands capital Majuro. Naturally, the plane had to be turned off while all medical equipment remained on battery. The temperature shot up from extremely cold in the air to extremely warm and humid on the ground.

“I never thought that our nursing would include fanning the patient,” says Dumchus. “During refueling in Pohnpei, the medical team and injured fisherman had to sit under the plane’s wing because it was the only shade on the tarmac!”

Until October of last year, ailing islanders and unsuspecting visitors in desperate need of off-island care had no choice but to suffer ten-day medical clearances from the region’s only headquartered commercial carrier. That, or somehow cough up $70,000 to $100,000 for a charter flight from Southeast Asia.

But in the autumn of 2007, Guam-based Aviation Concepts, Inc. (ACI)

changed all that with the launch of CareJet, a Westwind II fixed-wing jet and the only air ambulance responding to emergencies across the far corners of Micronesia. CareJet flies patients from the islands to receiving hospitals in Manila, Honolulu, Tokyo and even back to Guam, where Micronesia’s two

most advanced hospitals are based. The air ambulance is also on call for Northern Australia and Southeast Asia.

Despite Team CareJet’s ability to get there fast and help stabilise critical conditions, emergency evacuations from rustic archipelagos is still no easy feat. “I realise every US-based air ambulance service area has its unique challenges. But trust me when I say that Micronesia is in a category of its own,” says Terry Habeck, chairman and CEO of ACI. “There’s nothing domestic about what we do out here. Our transfers are 3,000 and 3,800 miles, versus the 150-mile excursions typical in the US mainland. Plus, with Micronesia being such an attractive destination for scuba divers, we have higher rates of decompression sickness, which means that we

will often be forced to fly at lower altitudes for longer transfers.”

Further complicating emergency air medicine in Micronesia are language and cultural barriers. “Our multilingual pilots and medical staff have learned to be flexible, observant, inquisitive and resourceful, because patient medical records are often nonexistent,” says Dumchus. “Many remote communities lack basic medical protocol, and local cultures often bear pain in private and don’t share information with strangers. We find creative ways of assessing and triaging while gently prying

out of the culturally shy whatever important medical history we can.”

Habeck says many of the standards of care that are taken for granted in the US are anomalies in Micronesia. “Here, we can’t expect nurses’ notes, discharge summaries, HIPPA forms, sets of vital signs and the like. Instead our medical staff look for physical signs portending consequences, so they can make educated guesses as to what specific, immediate attention is needed.”

All CareJet nurses are trained in critical care and have at least two years of work experience. CareJet nurses, doctors and paramedics are certified in ACLS (advanced cardiac life support), PALS (pediatric advanced life support), neonatal life support, and even ATLS (advanced trauma life support).

Sweating it out in the tropics

“There’s nothing domestic about what we do out here. Our transfers are 3,000 and

3,800 miles.”

FIXED WING 21


Eagle Air Med hit the headlines in the US this December, with stories of a former pilot’s lawsuit against the company and the loss of a plane in October. According to the reports, pilot Tod Wilson claimed wrongful termination stemming from an incident in September where he refused to fly a plane with a broken ice vane, which he believed to be unsafe. We asked Eagle Air Med to give their view

For the most part, those in the emergency medical fields are individuals who are happy working behind the scenes, people who don’t care about getting credit for their accomplishments. Their primary reward is making a positive difference in people’s lives.

For many of the more than 17 medical crewmembers, 15 pilots, and nearly 30 support staff of Eagle Air Med, of Blanding, Utah, making a difference is what keeps them motivated.

“I have been with Eagle Air Med for nearly 10 years,” said Jason Lin, Eagle Air Med’s chief flight nurse. “I enjoy the community approach Eagle Air Med takes to the business as well as the opportunity it gives me to use my skills and advocate to help others.”

Eagle Air Med flight crews live in the communities they serve, which gives them unique and personal relationships with those in the community.

“Often, I am able to see firsthand the positive effect Eagle Air Med has in the communities it serves,” said Eva Workman, an Eagle Air Med employee. “In part, this inspires me to continue working for a company that makes a difference in someone’s life everyday and in turn makes a difference in my life.”

Recently, Eagle Air Med has been thrust into a spotlight of a different kind. This past October, the company lost three crewmembers when a flight went down in rugged terrain – the only fatal accident in the company’s 25-year history. Now, a former pilot of Eagle Air Med has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the company alleging he was terminated after refusing to fly a fixed-wing flight.

Eagle Air Med vice-president James Hunt said he is unable to comment specifically regarding the grievance, but says this is an isolated case and that Eagle Air Med has a history of providing a safe, enjoyable and rewarding work environment. Adding that the company only operates with the most modern flight and medical equipment to ensure the best working conditions and exceptional critical care for the areas it serves.

“Unfortunately there are times when a company/employee relationship doesn’t work out and it is best to dissolve the relationship,” added Hunt. “In this case, terminating employment was the right choice.”

For many, the best barometer of a company’s quality is not one voice, but the collective voice of those it serves. “Eagle Air Med’s flight crews are an exceptional group of people, the flight nurses and paramedics’ skill and knowledge are outstanding,” said Johanna Bahe RN, paediatric supervisor at Chinle Hospital. “When we call on them to care for our patients, I am confident our patients will receive the highest level of care possible. Eagle Air Med treats our patients with dignity and respect and have always been sensitive to the traditional values of our patients.”

Evaluating customers from another view point, Shanon Pollock, Eagle Air Med business development manager said: “On a weekly basis, I have the opportunity to mingle with our customers and I know the positive feelings they have about the organisation.” Shanon continued: “Current and past employees of any organisation may express their feelings about a company and its practices, but if any outside entity desires a true understanding of an organisation, they must look to the company’s customers.”

For Eagle Air Med, the last few months in the spotlight has cast shadows on a company with a stellar history. For more than 25 years, the company has served the Four Corners Area, which comprises Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. During this time, the company has completed more than 21,000 transports to patients who have required basic, advanced and critical care life support services.

Eagle Air Med and its employees continue to provide this important work, and once the spotlight fades, they will continue their work behind the scenes work that like all those in the emergency medical fields quietly makes a difference in people’s lives.

Shadows cast on Utah company

The Eagle Air Med case has echoes of an incident that was settled in September last year, when a former CareFlight pilot for Miami Valley Hospital (MVH) refused to fly helicopters he felt were unsafe and won a wrongful termination lawsuit against the hospital and the company’s base manager. Administrative judge Joseph Kane ordered the hospital and CJ Systems Aviation Group Inc. to pay the pilot, Richard Evans, nearly $�0,000 in back pay plus interest, $100,000 in compensatory damages and all his legal expenses. Kane also ordered the organisations to give Evans his job back, with immediate effect.

FIXED WING22


First US air ambulance base for China

US-based air ambulance company AirMed

International recently announced plans to open its first international base of operations in Hong Kong, which is scheduled to commence business in March. The company commented that with corporations from around the world already conducting business in China, the new base will fill a need within the air ambulance industry.

AirMed CEO Jeffrey Tolbert said: “It will always be our first choice to use our aircraft to transport our customers and to utilise our own highly trained medical and flight crews. AirMed’s expansion into China will allow us to achieve the kind of world-class care and transportation expected and will give AirMed a wider range of capabilities in long and short-range patient transports.”

The company is proud to point out that the new base will make AirMed the first US air ambulance company with a permanent home in Asia. From the Hong Kong base, AirMed will provide

worldwide service to its customers using a Raytheon Hawker 800 aircraft, the third Hawker in AirMed’s fleet. The Hawker aircraft spent approximately 90 days in maintenance being fitted out as state-of-the-art medical jet.

Matching AirMed’s other Hawker long-range aircraft, the new plane boasts the standard gaseous oxygen systems as well as a liquid oxygen system, allowing longer transport for ventilator-dependent patients without replenishing the onboard oxygen supply. Further benefits of the aircraft include a stand-up cabin to providing maximum benefits for chest compressions, an enclosed lavatory, and a state-of-the-art satellite and data transmission network, capable of transmitting real-time aircraft tracking information. This system provides immediate voice communication via satellite, making communication possible from virtually anywhere in the world at any time.

Although based in Hong Kong, the aircraft is US registered, operated by US licensed flight

crews and staffed with Western-trained medical crews, meeting the same exacting standards as AirMed’s 10 other aircraft currently operating in the US. Flights will be staffed with physicians and nurses experienced in a wide variety of critical care specialties that may be required for adult, paediatric, and neonatal transports. The China operations will be based on the company’s established US model. AirMed maintains company-wide accreditation with the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS) and is an approved air carrier for the US Department of Defense (DoD) Commmercial Airlift Review Board (CARB) as part of the DoD Air Transport Program.

Commenting on the experience of setting up on Chinese soil, Denise Treadwell, AirMed executive vice-president, said: “The challenges we faced in credentialing medical teams for the Chinese operations have been many. However, we’ve enjoyed tremendous support from not only local officials, but from the air

ambulance industry as a whole in determining differences in training and licensure between the two countries. It’s been a very rewarding experience thus far, and we have been successful in attracting highly qualified personnel.”

AirMed has also opened membership sales offices in Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Singapore and will sell individual and family memberships for the AirMed Traveller (AMT) programme to residents in Asia’s Pacific Rim. AMT brings its members home to the hospital of choice if hospitalised 150 miles or more from home. Memberships in Asia will be similar to AirMed’s US and Canada memberships and will be offered to Chinese nationals as well as expatriates and other residents in that region of the world.

AirMed International (ITIJ Air Ambulance Provider of the Year 2007 – see page 14) currently operates from three US bases in Birmingham, Alabama, Honolulu, Hawaii and Rochester, Minnesota, where it serves as the fixed-wing operator for the world-renowned Mayo Clinic. The company was recently chosen as the fixed-wing provider for Cleveland Clinic, and will open its fifth base of operations in Cleveland later in 2008.

New aircraft in ADAC fleetADAC-Ambulance Service (ITIJ

Air Ambulance Provider finalist – see page 14) extended its fleet in January to include a new Learjet 35A, based in Cologne, Germany. Describing the aircraft as state-of-the-art, the company said it has a capacity to carry two patients, with

a range of 3,700 kilometres (2,000 nautical miles), a cruise ceiling of 13,700 metres (45,000 feet) and a maximum cruise speed of 820 kilometres per hour (440 knots). Medical equipment includes an optional incubator and external pacemaker.

AirMed’s new Hawker 800 will be based in Hong Kong AirMed

The challenges we faced in credentialing medical

teams for the Chinese operations have been many

AirMed International is heading east, with the opening of its new base in Hong Kong and additional sales offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore. Sarah Lee talks to AirMed about working in the region

FIXED WING 23


Charity service takes flight in Indianapolis

Grace on Wings, a charity air ambulance service, has been launched with the help of a network of churches and a backer that put down the money for the plane, a Mitsubishi MU-2.

From a hangar on the lonely back side of Indianapolis International Airport, Hal Blank and his three-member volunteer flight and

medical crew pick up and drop off people who are in need that cannot afford a normal air ambulance service. “We pick you up from your bed, and we deliver you home and tuck you in,” said Blank, an army-trained pilot and orthopaedic physician’s assistant. “It’s a bed-to-bed service.”

It took Grace on Wings over a year to complete its maiden flight as it faced cashflow issues. One of only a handful of charity air ambulances operating in the US, the company’s volunteers have said they see their work as more than

just an ambulance service. To them, it is a ministry, with each and every passenger receiving a bible that is equal to a physician’s desk reference book.

Patients who need emergency transport typically qualify for their health insurance to cover the cost of the transfer, while non-emergency patients who can walk

and don’t need close monitoring can use services such as Angel Flight. However, for patients that are stable but bedridden, the options are few and far between if they cannot pay out of their own pocket for an air ambulance ride back home. Although Grace on Wings is not cost-free, it aims to only charge around a quarter of the normal cost of a flight. Its ultimate goal, though, it to line up enough corporate sponsors, private foundations and additional supporters to further reduce this cost, if not eliminate it entirely.

Grace on Wings

Although Grace on Wings is not cost-free, it aims to only charge around a quarter of the

normal cost of a flight

A new charity air ambulance transport service has lifted off in the US. Mandy Aitchison checks out the details

FIXED WING24


The International Travel Insurance JournalAir Ambulance Provider of the Year

Nominee–Skyservice

Since its inception in 1989, over 13,000 patients have been safely transported on behalf of Skyservice Air Ambulance clients worldwide. Skyservice Air Ambulance was established with the philosophy of providing optimal service both to the client and the patient. In the past year alone, Skyservice Air Ambulance has conducted

650 missions, flying some 6,200 hours and travelling

around the world multiple times to come to the aid of critically ill

and injured patients.Skyservice increased its service

capacity with an additional contracted aircraft in Vancouver, Canada, which is

staffed, trained, and indirectly managed by Skyservice Air Ambulance, adding to a

fleet of five Learjet 35A air ambulances equipped with state-of-the-art intensive care facilities from bases both in Montreal and Toronto. Skyservice Air Ambulance became licensed by the State of Florida and has achieved certification from the European Aero Medical Institute (EURAMI).

Looking to the future, Skyservice says: “As the industry continues to grow, and patients with multiple medical conditions increase in numbers, how we manage the risk of transporting these patients will be our

greatest challenge. With our philosophy of optimal service, medically advanced fleet and

dedicated physicians and nurses, it is a challenge we are ready to face.”

ASSISTANCE/CLAIMSHANDLER OF THE YEAR

The International Travel Insurance Journal Awards are held annually, and aim to recognise industry greatness, from the

insurers and assistance companies to the air ambulance companies that they use. The awards ceremony is held at the end of the International Travel Insurance Conference in November.The recognition that comes with receiving an ITIJ award for Air Ambulance Provider of the Year is underlined by the award itself being presented by esteemed industry personnel. Being nominated is no mean feat either, as last year’s nominees would tell you. It is about your company being recognised as a leader in its class – a vital, life-saving class. Mandy Aitchison caught up with the 2007 winner and finallists

Nominee–ADAC-AmbulanceService

The foundation of ADAC-AmbulanceService in 1973 in Munich, Germany, put ADAC’s air rescue system on an international basis.

ADAC-AmbulanceService organises and carries out patient transports worldwide on ground and by air. The services range from transfer by ground ambulance to repatriation of intensive care patients in ADAC’s own ambulance jets. The ADAC fleet comprises Dornier-Fairchild 328-300 jets, Beechcraft Super King Air A350 and several Lear jets, equipped with state-of-the-art intensive care facilities. Highly qualified medical staff specialised in emergency medical assistance, intensive care and flight medicine accompany these transfers, ensuring that patients and their relatives are looked after personally.

ADAC-AmbulanceService attends to approximately 40,000 patients per year and carries out some 15,000 air and ground transports.

FIXED WING 25


Nominee–CanadianGlobalAirAmbulance

Canadian Global Air Ambulance is an international air ambulance organisation, providing a wide range of aeromedical solutions for private individuals, the insurance industry and government organisations, across Canada and around the world. The company says: “Our approach is unique in that we offer a fully integrated, client-centred service. This means our medical, flight and customer relations departments operate under one roof.”

The company boasts a call centre, staffed round the clock by on-site flight co-ordinators and nurse managers, and is owner operator of a fleet of Learjet series aircraft ‘specifically dedicated to the air ambulance role, equipped with the latest aeronautical technology providing for unrestricted worldwide operations’. Canadian Global says its strategic base locations in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Toronto maximise its geographic coverage and provide for rapid dispatch.

Winner–AirMedInternational,LLC

Over the past year, AirMed International has enjoyed unprecedented growth in all aspects of its operations. Last year AirMed celebrated its 12,000th transport mission; received its fourth CAMTS accreditation; opened a new, state-of-the-art operations center; launched a major brand awareness and marketing campaign; initiated new membership plans; launched a new website;

received endorsements from across the country; and conducted 2,500 missions, encompassing evacuations from six of the seven continents. AirMed is, the company says, ‘the busiest and fastest growing air ambulance programme in the US’, adding that it has never ‘sacrificed quality of patient care or safety to ensure this growth’.

This past year brought recognition and praise to the AirMed management staff from both CAMTS and the Department of Defense, citing them for ‘exceeding standards’ and for ‘continued operational excellence’. The Birmingham, Alabama-based company claims an impeccable safety record and ‘the most experienced medical teams in the US’. AirMed now employs 168 flight and medical team staff from its three bases of operations – Alabama, Minnesota, and Hawaii, and is in the final stages of opening its fourth base in Hong Kong, which AirMed says will make it the first US air ambulance company to operate in Asia (see page 22).

Last year AirMed created a free service and website, weatherturndown.com, designed for use by all air medical programmes in the US, including rotor and fixed-wing. The site allows programmes to share information regarding delays or cancellations due to weather.

AirMed now covers 1.5 million lives in the US and Canada through its membership programme and is the exclusive fixed-wing transport for the world-renowned Mayo Clinic. The company says its reputation leads it to routinely provide services for numerous Fortune 500 companies, world-renowned medical centers, international assistance companies, major universities, embassies and other foreign government agencies, and adds: “AirMed remains one of only three US Department of Defense approved carriers and is the only true air ambulance provider in the US trusted to provide coverage for major insurance carrier Blue Cross and Blue Shield. AirMed’s fleet of eight fully customised medical aircraft are used exclusively for patient transports and includes Hawker 800s, the largest permanently configured medical jets in the US.”

clockwise from top: the awards ceremony at the Molino Stucky Hilton in Venice, onboard an ADAC flight, patient transferral ADAC style, AirMed CEO Jeffrey Tolbert receives the award, and at home with his fleet, nominee Skyservice, and an AirMed transfer in Hawaii.

It is about your company being recognised as a leader in its class – a vital,

life-saving class.

2� ROTARY


AIIMS adds air ambulance service

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS),

located in New Delhi, has long been India’s pre-eminent medical facility. Since 1956, AIIMS has been established to provide excellence in healthcare, medical training, and education. As a reflection of this commitment, AIIMS will soon become the first government medical facility with air ambulance capabilities.

Doctors and the country’s senior health officials say an air ambulance service is badly needed, as almost 50 per cent of critically ill or injured patients in India die en route to hospital. AIIMS recently sought authorisation from the Ministry of Civil Aviation to construct a helipad and provide the service, and permission has been granted.

Regional doctors have applauded the decision, but fear the cost of air transfer to hospital may make it inaccessible to the patients who need it most. One doctor commented: “Keeping in mind the

dense population and heavy traffic in Delhi, air ambulances could be a great help.” He pointed out, however, that the expense involved in airlifting patients will have to be underwritten.

No details on the actual helicopters to be used have yet been revealed. The plan is to have the air ambulance made up of a crew including paramedics and a doctor trained to handle critical patients. The staff on board and on the ground will be trained in the special needs of transporting patients using helicopters. The service will be available at the AIIMS trauma centre, which has been operational for just about a year now.

Dr Shakti Gupta, AIIMS spokesperson, said: “While some private hospitals across the country

and in Delhi have air ambulance service, AIIMS is the first government hospital in the country

which has made a provision for a helipad at its newly constructed trauma centre.”

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences has become India’s first government hospital to add an air ambulance service to its emerging trauma centre, as Steve Goodman reports

AIIMS is the first government hospital in the country which has made a provision for a helipad

All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi

North Texas-based Bell Helicopter is to lay off

around five per cent of its workforce this year, according to a recent company announcement. Although officials could not give an exact number or date, they said the layoffs were needed for cost reductions and ‘to better align

the organisational structure [of the company] with strategies for future growth’.

Richard Millman, president and CEO of Bell Helicopter, acknowledged it was a difficult decision to cut some staff, ‘but the facts are that Bell must undergo some changes in the short term to

prepare for the long-term future’. He added: “We must reduce operating costs to assure that our products will be competitive in the marketplace. We will do this by increasing our efficiency while reducing redundancies and flattening the organisation.” The company employs around 44,000 across the globe.

Meanwhile, Bell has announced that it is optimising its commercial product line in order to better serve its customer base and accelerate deliveries of its high-demand aircraft. Currently, the company is seeing huge demand for its 412, 407 and new 429 commercial products and is taking steps to transform itself into a more streamlined company.

Mr Macmillan stated: “Our most recent analysis of the marketplace has indicated increased demand for our 407 and 412 commercial

helicopters, along with our 429 model. We are fully booked on these models until 2010, and as a result, we are both significantly increasing overall capacity and eliminating production of some lower volume products.” A detailed analysis of the company’s internal structures has yielded a more strategic allocation of resources and real-time decision making that Bell hopes will enable it to deliver a larger number of helicopters each year.

Bob Fitzpatrick, senior vice-president for marketing and sales, observed: “When we looked at the marketplace, we identified important trends in the market segments we serve. The data validated that the capabilities of our most popular models, along with our new product offerings, are well matched to meet market needs and we expect it will continue to ensure Bell’s strong competitiveness.”

Bell to lay off employees

2�ROTARY


Prince William Sound in the Gulf of Alaska, US, proudly displays steep

fj ords, stunning coastlines and glaciers, and heavy rain. Th e sea in the Sound is a paddlers’ paradise of steep-sided coves, islands and channels; the land is a mountainous rainforest. But while Mother Nature is the creator of such beauty, she can also be an unforgiving force.

After the fi rst hour of their search near the Sound, rescue services had seen no sign of wreckage – no passengers, no emergency locator device, nothing. Heavy snow, freezing rain, strong winds at 25 miles per hour and poor visibility hindered search eff orts the fi rst day, keeping helicopters grounded and limiting the eager C-130s to electronic and radar searches, according to a spokesman for the military’s Rescue Coordination Center.

A Eurocopter BK117 LifeGuard Alaska helicopter carrying patient Gay McDowell, 60, of Cordova; pilot Lance Brabham, 42, of Soldotna; paramedic Cameron Carter, 25, of Kenai; and fl ight

nurse John Stumpff , 47, of Sterling vanished in the wicked weather on the evening of Monday 3 December after lifting off from Cordova airport at 4:40 p.m. to fl y to Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage.

Th e helicopter crew last made contact with operators shortly after 5 p.m. on 3 December as they fl ew near Esther Island, about 75 miles southeast of Anchorage, according to offi cials with the Air National Guard. Th e trip from Cordova to Anchorage is about 150 miles by air and takes approximately 90 minutes.

At the time of the fl ight, the National Weather Service issued advisories alerting pilots about the turbulence and low visibility. A Pavehawk helicopter and a C-130 from the Alaska Air National Guard,

and a Jayhawk helicopter from the Coast Guard conducted the rescue search by air. Th e Coast Guard Cutter Sycamore continued its water search with the assistance of three private fi shing boats from Whittier.

By 8 December, searchers found the body of fl ight nurse John Stumpff on the north shore of Passage Canal near Whittier, according to McHugh Pierre, a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Aff airs.

On the same day, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the leasing company identifi ed the left rear sliding door, medical equipment, and two helmets that belonged to Stumpff and Brabham. However, with three people still missing, authorities ended their week-long search two days after

Stumpff ’s body was found.“All indications show there are

no survivors,” said Pierre. “In seven days, we did not fi nd any sign of human activity.”

Th e shift from rescue to recovery required the Alaska Air National Guard and the US Coast Guard to end their involvement, with the Alaska State Troopers taking the lead in any future recovery eff orts.

“Our goal, our wish, would be to be able to recover the wreckage,” NTSB investigator Clint Johnson said. “In the next few days, we’ll see if an underwater search is even feasible. Depths there can be in excess of 600 feet, which puts it out of reach of normal diving depths.”

Johnson met with offi cials from both LifeGuard Alaska, the air ambulance service managed by Providence Alaska Medical Center, and Evergreen Helicopters of Alaska, the owner of the missing helicopter and the employer of the pilot.

A memorial service was held Friday 7 December at the LifeGuard Alaska hangar in Anchorage for the four lives lost at sea.

Lives lost at sea – quiet the Sound Amy G McGuire reports on the loss of a LifeGuard Alaska helicopter in Prince William Sound

while Mother Nature is the creator of such beauty, she can also be an unforgiving force

2� ROTARY


A new contract has been awarded to Australia’s Hunter Region

Westpac

Rescue Helicopter Service to provide rescue and aeromedical services in Hunter, the North West, New England and Mid North

Coast regions over

the next five years.In 2007, the Service carried out

over 1,200 missions.Richard Jones, general manager,

said the Service sees the contract as a reward for the high standards achieved in recent years. He added: “We again made the commitment to the Minister for Health and the government that we would provide a first-class service using twin engine aircraft to support the work of the New South Wales Ambulance and Department of Health in the delivery of healthcare.”

The Service has added

a second twin-engined aircraft to its fleet, to be based in the Mid North Coast and Hunter regions, which has helped in meeting the government’s new requirements for medical and rescue missions. The funding for the new aircraft was possible thanks to wide community support, said Jones, not least the support of the United Mineworkers Federation.

Commenting on the closed tender process, Jones commented that this was evidence of confidence in the Service to deliver the standards which the government rightly demands. He said: “This is only possible because our communities support us in every way possible. The support of our sponsors ... [is] invaluable throughout the regions.”

Westpac Rescue Service wins new five-year contract

South African rescuers rescued

It happens. Rescuers in turn finding themselves in need of rescue. That

was the situation recently when Netcare 911 Surf Rescue pilot Paul Davidson and his helicopter crewman Jaco de Jongh were forced to ditch their aircraft in the surf approximately 50 metres offshore near Groot Brak River, between Mossel Bay and George, South Africa.

The helicopter, a National Sea Rescue Institute (NRSI) Bell Jet Ranger, was conducting a routine exercise at the time. Fellow NSRI teams from NSRI Mossel Bay, NSRI Wilderness, Metro Ambulance and Rescue Services, as well as other fire rescue services and South African police services responded to the incident. Rescue swimmers were already in the water as part of the training exercise. Both Davidson and

de Jongh safely exited the helicopter after it landed in the surf. de Jongh was able to swim to shore on his own; the pilot was assisted by the rescue swimmers and lifeguards who had entered the water from the beach.

Both pilot and crewman seemed to be fine, save for some minor abrasions. de Jongh was released immediately from hospital, while Davidson was kept over night for observation.

The Bell Jet Ranger has since been removed from the water and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has started an investigation to determine the cause of the accident.

The Vodacom Netcare 911 Surf Rescue helicopters are based in Durban, Margate, Port Elizabeth, George and Cape Town, and are each manned by a pilot, a medic, a South

African Lifesaving rescue swimmer and an NSRI rescue swimmer.

Since the beginning of the Vodacom Netcare 911 Surf Rescue helicopter

programme, the units have responded to more than 200 rescues and have proven to be instrumental in the area’s sea rescue operations.

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Steve Goodman reports on the Surf Rescue helicopter that got closer to the surf than intended

Czech state to ensure serviceThe Health Ministry in the

Czech Republic has taken over the legal obligation to ensure in financial and contractual terms the ongoing operation of the country’s air rescue service under an amendment to the current law.

At present, the activities of the air rescue service are only ensured until the end of this year on the basis of government resolution of contracts made with state and non-state operators in 1999. However, Health Minister Tomas Julinek said

during a recent debate that tenders would have to be put out under the more rigorous law on public orders. The proposed amendment to the law was criticised, though, by the Social Democrats, who said that the wording of the law

would only make it possible for private companies to operate the service. In response, Julinek said the amendment had been drafted correctly, and that it did not ‘determine whether state or non-state operators will be used’.

2�ROTARY


In order to improve response times to emergency calls, UK ground ambulance services plan to increase the use of vehicles crewed by a single paramedic with no transport capacity, which some say will put even more pressure on stretched air ambulance services. James Wallis talks to one such critic

In December 2007, news broke in the UK that paramedic crews

in the ambulance service were increasingly concerned about pressure being exerted to put more ‘solo responders’ on the roads in response to emergency 999 calls.

The pressure arose from tougher response time targets being set by the government. The ‘Orcon’ target, which comes into effect in April, requires that for 75 per cent of Category ‘A’ calls, a patient must be reached within eight minutes. Previously, the eight minutes began after the caller’s details had been taken. From April 2007 this time was reduced, as the stopwatch now starts from when the 999 call connects, rather than when the responder is dispatched.

Many ambulance services in the UK have reacted to this increasing pressure to meet targets by introducing more rapid response units, with just one person (a ‘solo responder’) driving an estate car or 4x4 vehicle, which helps to reduce response times by providing more units to dispatch.

Solo responders were introduced

in the 1990s to help meet targets, but with only one crew member there are issues if the patient must be transported. The news that many ambulance services were planning to increase the number of solo responders has generated widespread concern amongst paramedic crews, who are anxious not just about their own safety, but also about the standard of care a patient might receive.

The situation has given rise to serious concerns from at least one of the UK’s air ambulances. In England and Wales (but not Scotland), air ambulances are charities which receive no government funding and rely on donations from the public.

Steve Porter, operations manager of Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance (WNAA), said: “The move to use more solo responders will put huge additional pressure on air ambulance services throughout the UK, with an even greater need for our intervention to save lives. Whilst solo responders may help meet the eight-minute target, this move does nothing to help

the patient. It simply serves to put stress and an extra burden on paramedics. If a solo responder arrives on scene and a patient needs to be transported to hospital, they will have to call for back up

immediately, which can increase the length of time it takes to get someone the care they need.

“In such circumstances, it is obvious that air ambulances will be called on more and more frequently to help meet these targets, rather than being sent to situations where only an air ambulance can get to the patient or where a journey by

land ambulance would be physically distressing. This is not the best use of a life saving service like ours.”

However, ministers insist the move will free up resources for other calls and ‘does not present

a risk to patients’. Ben Bradshaw, health minister, said of the use of solo responders: “Fast-response vehicles can often get to the scene faster than traditional ambulances, and can provide assessment and care until a further response arrives.”

According to reports from the BBC, all but one of the UK’s 10 ambulance trusts have submitted plans to the

government proposing an increase in the use of solo responders. London’s fleet of solo responders is expected to increase by 50 per cent to 200 by April.

Despite wide-ranging concern about the

targets and the increasing use of solo responders, there seems little prospect for change in the UK. It remains to be seen what the full knock-on effect will be for air ambulances.

Solo responders: a potential threat to effective air ambulance services

WNAASteve Porter, WNAA operations manager

WN

AA

“The move to use more solo responders will put huge additional pressure on air ambulance services throughout the UK”

30 ROTARY


The Australian Helicopters’ Emergency Management

Queensland (EMQ) has won a new AU$30-million, five-year government emergency medical and air rescue contract for the Torres Strait and the Northern Peninsula area. EMQ’s aircraft will be based on Horn Island and will be expected to perform governmental

work, such as police, fire and counter disaster services.

Chief executive of Australian Helicopters, Neil Shea, said: “This is an upgrading of the existing, single-engined helicopter and involves enhanced capability and crewing with 12 permanent air personnel and two additional engineers.” He continued: “The upgraded aircraft

is also instrumented for response in poor weather conditions day or night. The winch will be equipped for search and rescue, and the Bell 412 will be capable of carrying a neonatal humidicrib for transport of premature or ill babies, which is good news for parents living in remote areas.”

At the end of last year, Australian Helicopters won an army contract

with two Bell 412SP helicopters to replace the outdated Iroquois as part of a $22-million civilian deal in partnership with Boeing Australia. The helicopter will be used for crash response and loadmaster training. The firm has already been operating the coastwatch helicopter surveillance and response service in the Torres Strait since 1995.

$30-million deal done in Australia

Law change clears the way

New rules in New Jersey, US have cleared the way for

private helicopters to be first on the scene of major accidents – but it will cost the patients that make use

of them, and their insurers, more money. Previously in the state, the private companies could only be used to respond to a major incident if state police helicopters were unavailable.

MONOC air ambulance company in Berkeley Township will now cover southern Monmouth County and most of Ocean County, while Atlantic Health is handling portions of Sussex and Morris Counties.

Russia exports to IranIt has been reported

that Russia will export five Mi-171 transport helicopters to the Iranian Red Crescent Society in 2009. The Ulan-Ude aircraft building plant that produces the Mi-171 and Mi-171Sh signed the agreement at the end of 2007. Earlier in the year, the same plant supplied Iran with

35 Mi171s and Mi-171Shs at a cost of US$210 million.

31ROTARY


Eurocopter sales record reachedEurocopter, one of the world

leaders in the manufacture of helicopters, has reported all-time-high sales results for 2007, with a total of 488 helicopter deliveries for new military and civilian orders. In line with its strategy of being a multinational player in the industry, it has also further strengthened its worldwide industrial footprint by setting up new subsidiaries in key markets. Order bookings show a high demand for new helicopter models and services – the company’s order backlog at the end of 2007 was at a record high, exceeding €13 billion.

56 per cent of Eurocopter’s €4-billion turnover achieved in 2007 was related to serial helicopters (€2.34 billion), 33 per cent was derived from customer services, and the remaining 11 per cent was brought in through development and other

activities. While 51 per cent of the company’s turnover was from civil and parapublic sales, 49 per cent was related to Eurocopter’s military products. The export share is 68 per cent, showing the company’s strategy of expanding its activities to emerging markets is working well.

Eurocopter CEO Dr Lutz Bertling said the results showed that the company must increase the rate of production in order to keep up with demand, and added that delivery numbers in 2008 would be even higher. He then went on to give some details of who is buying the helicopters: “We have seen growth in all segments, [but] oil and gas take the lead … hot on the heels is the VIP/corporate market, proving that helicopters have finally arrived as an accepted tool in business aviation. Law enforcement remains

a strong market, as does EMS, followed by the utility/tourism and military markets.” Other milestones achieved by the company were also noted by Dr Bertling, including the introduction of a 24/7 hotline service centre; the creation of a fleet safety directorate; the inauguration of an EC135 simulation centre; the establishment of a new maintenance centre in Abu Dhabi and the opening of a joint project office with the British Ministry of Defence for the Royal Air Force Puma upgrade.

In line with the 2020 plan of Eurocopter’s parent company, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Agency (EADS), the company has identified the challenges that

face it this year, and has also established targets that include: optimising the industrial process, coping with long-term low dollar value and a focus on technical challenges such as operational economics, ergonomics, fleet safety and a general cost reduction.

West of Ireland patients will benefit from a new

helicopter air ambulance service, HeliMed Ireland, from March this year – the first of its kind to be in the country. It will be operated by Executive Helicopters and Blackrock Ambulance Service (BAS), with BAS providing the medical crew and call centre. Staffed by a pilot and two paramedics, the company’s Bell 222 will be fitted with a lifeport ambulance

kit and be able to carry two patients. It will be available for hire to the Health Service Executive, charities, special events and private individuals, with costs expected to be €4,000 from Galway to Dublin and €5,000 from Castlebar to Dublin. However, the company said it is seeking to reduce costs by obtaining

corporate sponsorship to cover the fixed costs.

Based at Galway airport, operations will initially only take place during daylight hours, until hospital helipads are fitted with lighting approved for night-time flying; Chris Shiel, chief pilot and managing director of Executive Helicopters, estimated the cost of lighting at €30,000 per helipad.

New HeliMed service for Ireland

heliMedThe new HeliMed Ireland team and Bell 222

New partner for LifeFlight Eagle

Like many air ambulance services, the nurses and paramedics who

crew LifeFlight Eagle’s helicopters are employees of the non-profit healthcare company, but the flight crew and mechanics that are part of the programme are employees of a separate air operator.

A recent corporate merger sent LifeFlight Eagle to look for a new air operator. They found Petroleum Helicopters Incorporated (PHI), based in Lafayette, Louisiana and were happy with the choice. A spokesperson for LifeFlight Eagle

said that while PHI primarily provides helicopter support operations for the petroleum and oil industry, healthcare operations are a large part of its market.

Since starting to use unused aircraft for medical transport in the early 1980s, PHI has expanded its fleet from one medically equipped helicopter to over 60 helicopters, decked out as state-of-the-art medical air ambulances. LifeFlight said that PHI’s corporate philosophy, safety record, and level of professionalism in its day-to-day operations are

a great fit for LifeFlight Eagle’s expanding operation among the community it serves.

LifeFlight Eagle flies a Bell 407 – PHI has amassed more flight hours on the 407 than any other civilian helicopter operation. LifeFlight Eagle’s director of programme operations says he couldn’t be happier about the new vendor. He was especially excited about PHI’s comprehensive enhanced operational control system (EOC). The EOC allows experienced air medical pilots to gain instant communication from

PHI’s command cenrte with pilots in the air, should something unexpected occur that might require the skills and experience of a second pilot.

Interestingly enough, it was a corporate merger and contract changes that forced LifeFlight to change air ops vendor. To show its support of PHI and of LifeFlight’s programme, 99 per cent of its pilots transferred from their previous vendor to PHI and 100 per cent of mechanics have chosen to stick with the programme and work for PHI when the contract changes hands.

LifeFlight Eagle, the US air ambulance serving the Kansas City, Missouri metro area has announced a tie-up with a new aviation partner. Steve Goodman has the details

Eurocopter

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The new service, to be called Derbyshire, Leicestershire and

Rutland Air Ambulance (DLRAA), will use an Agusta 109, which features retractable landing gear. WNAA says the A109 is the fastest civilian helicopter (Agusta quotes a top speed of 285 kilometres per hour). The helicopter is specifically designed for ambulance missions, with the low cabin vibration, essential when transporting serious head, neck or spinal injuries. It also has enough cabin space for two stretcher patients and for treatment to continue to the whole body if necessary. It will be airborne within just 45 seconds of the crew receiving a call. Based at

East Midlands Airport, it will take just five minutes to reach Leicester Royal Infirmary and 14 minutes to get to Derbyshire Royal Infirmary.

DLRAA will carry at least one doctor on board every mission in addition to paramedics. WNAA say this is a major new development for the counties: “The most appropriate medical treatment can begin at the scene of the accident, rather than having to wait until the patient reaches hospital. In many situations, this can make the difference between a life saved and a life lost.”

In common with other English air ambulance helicopter services, the DRLAA will be a charity, and is appealing to the public for

donations to fund the expansion. Andy Williamson, director of the existing WNAA service, said: “To have this new service ready by 1

April 2008, we must raise £300,000 in just five months to pay for the helicopter and running costs such as fuel. We hope that everyone in the three counties will dig deep ... Over the year, we will need to raise £1.5m to provide this service.”

Dave Whiting, director of operations at EMAS, said: “We are pleased that WNAA has joined us to provide this service. They have a solid track record of operating air ambulances and they are highly skilled, innovative and ambitious. They really know the business and they are keen to connect with the people of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland.”

New service to cover Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland

Membership model is vital to PanamaSwift response to emergencies

and less trauma during emergency medical helicopter transports are just two of the many benefits expected to be brought to the small nation of Panama by a new air ambulance service. However, as with most helicopter EMS around the world, the membership model, together with community support, has been

proved to be the most effective way to generate the funding needed to provide a quality service.

Jim Thomson of LifeFlight Panama noted: “Community support is so important for this type of operation, especially in Panama. The more people that join, the better it is for everyone as these funds will enable us to buy more or better aircraft, with increased capabilities for a

better and safer lifesaving service for the community.”

With the ever-increasing operating costs for aircraft, memberships to air ambulance services enable those costs to be spread over a larger number of people, instead of the sky-high cost of a single flight. LifeFlight Panama work on a per-household basis for residents, while tourist memberships are on a per-

person basis for 30, 60 or 90 days, depending on the time needed, and start at $2 for 30 days of coverage.

LifeFlight Panama’s first aircraft, a Bell 206 Long Ranger III, is currently being modified to make it better suited for operations in the country’s unique flying environment. It is the first dedicated HEMS service in the country’s history, and will be based in Panama City.

The US military is quizzing Taranaki’s Rescue Helicopter Trust about two sets of night vision goggles seized by Customs. Lyssiemay Annoh takes a look

New Zealand Customs investigations manager

Terry Brown has confirmed that said an Auckland man was under investigation for importing the goggles after of two sets of night vision goggles were seized by Customs. The Trust has been placed in this difficult position after reports that 12 pairs of goggles belonging to the US military were discovered to be in use in New Zealand. The Trust faces losing up to $34,000 if the goggles are seized.

Mr Brown said that the goggles were handed over to New Plymouth Customs in September and that they were looking at offences under the Customs and Excise Act. He added that most of the organisations who had bought the goggles had applied to the Minister of Customs, Nanaia Mahuta, for a waiver of forfeiture, but, ironically, so had the US authorities. He said: “These are US military specification goods and so it’s reasonably understandable why the US military would want them repatriated”.

Trust manager Noel Watson said the goggles were a valuable tool and the Trust had paid full price for them and therefore had not considered that there would be any wrong-doing. He added that if he

had known where they had come from in the first place, he wouldn’t have bought them. The Trust will wait for the Customs investigation to be completed before deciding on its next step.

Elsewhere, US Air Force Sergeant Leonard Allen Schenk, 26, was sentenced to nearly 20 years in jail for the theft and other charges including conspiring to kill an undercover agent. Others involved in selling the goggles to third parties, such as Northland Emergency

Services Trust (Nest) chairman John Bain, who confirmed that he had been part of this sale, denied any involvement of Nest. Mr Bain is also under investigation.

Trust faces NVG investigation

DRLAADRLAA’s Agusta 109

East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) has asked Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance (WNAA) to provide a new service to cover three counties – Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland

tRht

33ROTARY


False alarm for STAT MedEvac

STAT MedEvac, a service of the Center for Emergency Medicine

in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, staged the simulated rescue in Adams County, but the problem was that organisers failed to alert other emergency services that it was only a practice session.

When radio traffic was heard by a listener, calls to 911 were made, which resulted in police and fire crews needlessly being dispatched to the mock emergency in the belief it was a real crash. Adams County 911 coordinator Donna Powers commented on the disruption the false alarm caused to the emergency services: “It tied

up my dispatch center.”Hampton Fire Company

president Rodney Heagey also spoke of the financial risk the false alarm brought on by causing millions of dollars in emergency

equipment to be on the road. However, his local knowledge helped to resolve the situation relatively swiftly – knowing that a MedEvac pilot lived near the area the helicopter was alleged to have gone down, he sent a few people to investigate his hunch, who found the pilot and the ‘missing’ aircraft. He commented: “It really helps to know who lives around you.”

STAT MedEvac spokesman Dan Nakles said confusion might have been caused when a pilot who lives in the area of the drill mistakenly heard STAT MedEvac radio traffic and alerted emergency services.

Nakles hoped that in the event a call for a downed helicopter goes out for real in Adams County, the emergency workers listening to the call don’t hear it as a cry of ‘wolf ’ because of the recent incident. Before the drill in Adams, the company’s last drill was in Pittsburg in 2007; in that case 911 officials were alerted beforehand. The mistake, really, was not on the part of STAT Medevac for not informing the local EMS, although the company perhaps should have done – it was on the part of the pilot who presumed he knew more than the air ambulance company and reported the ‘crash’.

Victoria’s HEMS 1 given the air ambulance lookMetropolitan Ambulance

Service, Victoria, Australia, has repainted its Melbourne-based helicopter to give it the real ambulance look; red and white with a badging of HEMS 1. The Eurocopter Dauphine N3 was previously in police blue with predominantly police markings.

Acting air ambulance operations manager, Greg Gibson, said the new design is a big improvement and brings the helicopter in line with the rest of the air ambulance fleet: “It now has a slick professional look to match the skill level of our highly trained MICA flight paramedics

who work on board the chopper.”The N3 operates as a partnership

between Victoria Police and Metropolitan Ambulance Service. The new colour scheme reflects the primary EMS role of the aircraft. It is staffed by a police pilot, observer and a MICA flight paramedic and used as an emergency response to critical emergencies. It is also involved in search and rescue and other police tasks.

Along with HEMS 1, Air Ambulance Victoria has two Bell 412 EPs and four planes providing emergency aeromedical care statewide for all Victorians.

Debbie Legall reports on a difficult rescue operation following a car crash in New Zealand

The ability of rescue teams to successfully work together

under difficult conditions was put to the test recently following a severe road crash. The teams used three helicopters and two road ambulances to mount the rescue operation.

The crash, which involved a people carrier and a four-wheel-

drive vehicle occurred in Maruia Springs, New Zealand, and required the use of a tow-truck as well as a fire engine to prize the wreckage apart before the eight occupants of the vehicles could be freed. According to a spokesperson for one of the helicopter services, the severity of the crash was such that ‘they couldn’t cut the people out of the wreck’.

During the carefully run operation, the spokesperson said of the victims, most of whom were

children, ‘as they’ve been freeing them, we’ve been flying them’. Six of the eight wounded were taken to Christchurch Hospital by helicopter, while the remaining two were transported by road. A twin-engine BK117 Westpac rescue helicopter, operated by Garden City Helicopters, made two trips with two patients aboard each time. The Christchurch back-up helicopter and Greymouth’s Solid Energy rescue helicopter, both Squirrels, brought in one patient each.

The rescue effort was hampered by the local terrain: the crash took place on a section of State Highway 7 that begins a steep winding climb. Persistent torrential rain created additional complications for the rescue teams and prevented one of the helicopters from returning to the scene of the crash.

The rescuers took more than four hours to free the crash victims, and one victim who was critically injured had to be rushed to the operating theatre on arrival at hospital.

Crashed cars wrenched apart in NZ rescue

Victoria Air AmbulanceThe Victoria Air Ambulance N3 in its new HEMS 1 livery

A US medevac organisation is under fire after organising a recovery drill to rescue the crew of a ‘crashed’ helicopter – but without telling other emergency services.

StAt Medevac

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Toflyornottofly

Today, just for a while, you are dubbed the pilot of an emergency medical

transport service. You will be the decision-maker for whether this particular patient will be able to be fl own out or not. Do they arrive at their desired destination and have that life-saving procedure, or do you turn the trip down? When there are heavy clouds in the sky and it’s dark and raining out, you are asked if you can fl y from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’. No matter what those destinations are, most pilots know the items necessary to make an informed, objective decision about ‘go’ or ‘no go’ for these medical missions. Pilots require a multitude of types of training,

in everything from aircraft and communication to survival, and a number of hours fl ying the particular aircraft a service uses before they are even allowed to transport the ill or injured. Pilots will check weather conditions at both the sending and receiving destinations, they will check landing areas, and they will check fuelling options. They go about making their decisions objectively, not with their hearts.

The dispatchers, fl ight coordinators and medical crews are all given instructions not to inform the pilot of the type of patient to be transported, no matter the illness or injury, keeping this decision-making process as objective as

Karen Chamberlain explores the safety aspects around the decision to fl y, and asks

how to eliminate emotion from the equation

feature 35


possible, until after the decision is made. Some agree with this sentiment; others state it is arbitrary and has no bearing on their decision-making abilities.

Why do we keep the patient details from pilots? Because it changes the equation to consign ‘emotional blackmail’ to the transport. Because asking whether you can transport a patient from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’ is very different from approaching the pilot and asking: “A two-year-old child has been involved in an accident and now needs to be at the trauma centre, can we go?”

Many, I would venture to say, would respond with an immediate ‘yes’, going with gut reaction rather than an informed decision. Most individuals, once you personalise decision-making, alter their ability to make an objective decision. Especially if decisions involve patients they can identify with: their family, their friends, their neighbours, their children. There have been countless hours spent on investigations, studies and the multitude of factors involved in this decision-making, and its aftermath.

Why does it matter? It matters because people are dying. People are dying at a rate that has raised the eyebrows of the air medical community, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the general public, both at a national as well as an international level, that use our air medical services. Although a majority of these fatalities occur within the helicopter transports environments, it is not to say air ambulance jets are immune to these same incidents.

Safety initiatives

The experts indicate there are a variety of factors that contribute to the number of fatalities, including regulations, safety cultures and safety adherence. Those within the transport environment tout safety as a mantra all adhere to, and multiple disciplines within the transport industry have addressed these safety issues repeatedly.

There are initiatives on federal, private and international fronts. The Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS), the individual associations, pilots, physicians, nurses, paramedics – all strive to make this a safer air medical world.

The Vision Zero project, which began in Sweden, increases safety awareness by creating a culture of intolerance to the loss of life and the suffering caused by the consequences of poor decision-making. The project involves ‘a long-term policy initiative based on developing better understanding of human behaviour’. It postulates that it is possible to use a public health model, combining research, engineering, education and enforcement, to arrive at a zero accident rate.

In the legal arena, US Representative John Doolittle has introduced legislation to ‘increase safety conditions for patients and medical crews on board emergency medical aircrafts’. Doolittle stated: “By enacting this legislation, we will not only honor the remarkable sacrifi ces of those who gave their lives while trying

medical crews are given instructions not to inform the pilot of the type of patient to be transported

Toflyornottofly

feature3�


to save others, but in their honor we will also prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future.” This legislation was referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on 23 October 2007.

Real causesIt is recognised that the actual accident rate in

air medicine is under debate. Some deny this trend and instead point to the increased numbers of fatalities as having a direct link to the increased number of transports being conducted, both nationally and internationally.

As recently as June 2007 a medical organ transplant team in Michigan ‘slammed into Lake Michigan at 250 miles per hour’, according to an I-team news broadcast. Six medical professionals as well as the flight crew were killed. Justine Green, a decorated military pilot stated: “When you have a pilot who is under the pressure of an emergency mission trying to bring organs on an emergency basis, you have that human nature and that sense of mission to complete that mission and mistakes can be made.”

When investigations are completed, and decisions are made, why is it so often attributed to ‘pilot error’ or ‘human factors’? Yes, the pilot is the ultimate authority. We don’t question the decision once made – or, do we? Is it true that ‘virtually every accident could have been prevented’, as stated in Rotor magazine, despite our Vision Zero initiative, despite our House and Senate motions for increased safety regulations? Or, are we looking at this as a simple problem with what should be a simple solution? Is this an initiative only to be looked at in the US and the regions surrounding

it, or are the existing international programmes enough? What about underdeveloped and hard to reach regions – who is serving those regions?

Global growthIn looking to the last few months as of 15

November 2007, Bangkok Hospital Medical Centre formed a joint venture with Bangkok Dusit Medical Services to provide a helicopter service. This service will provide the first emergency service in Thailand and the region, aimed to serve locals as well as tourists and emergency evacuations. In November 2007 an article was published discussing the growing air medical transport industry in India. And 31 October 2007 marked the first civilian air ambulance service based in Guam.

So, are all air transport programmes opened with ease, and does everyone welcome the addition of the medical resources with open arms?

Rotorhub news, 11 October 2007, reported that the Polish government had announced a decision

to replace up to 23 HEMS (helicopter emergency medical service) helicopters over the next two to three years. However, the decision is being appealed by a competing manufacturer. Local anger is running high against the Health Ministry’s decision. Notable omission from the short list of bidders is Sikorsky, who in the last year purchased another PZL factory at Mielec. The local union Solidarnosc is also most unhappy at the way that Polish workers have been sidelined, and wrote a letter of complaint to Jarosław Kaczynski, then prime minister, to which they never received a reply. Does this private as well as public opinion weigh in on the issues, and are there unspoken of pressures applied to programmes and personnel?

Decision makersWho are the people making these decisions on

‘go’ or ‘no go’? Certainly, from that first phone call there is a cascade system in place while various decisions are reached. We would like to think these things occur objectively, because of things outside of our scope of responsibilities, outside of our scope of acceptability. There are dispatchers, flight co-ordinators, medical crews, pilots, and countless others ‘invested’ and involved in these life-saving missions. Does every discipline, every individual, carry the same respect and commitment to safety? Some allege owners and operators are more interested in numbers and fiscal accountability, while others speak to the needs of those ill and injured being met.

As an example, Eagle Air in Colorado is involved in a lawsuit from a September incident where a pilot alleges he was wrongfully fired after

it changes the equation to consign ‘emotional blackmail’ to the transport

feature 3�


refusing to fly a plane he believed to be unsafe. It is alleged that his superiors told him he was not ‘being a team player’. October also saw this same company suffer the loss of three individuals when their aircraft crashed into the side of a mountain. There have been many and a sundry comments about the situation, on both sides of the fence. Where does this place those individuals who died in October? In an industry that, in fact, has been in existence far less time than many, it seems we are learning some hard lessons.

Personal impactAir medical transport is not for everyone. Many

see the beautiful helicopters or jets and think, ‘wow, what a great job’. Those within the medical transport community know the beautiful aircraft are indeed beautiful to behold, and that lasts until your first critical mission, when your entire focus is on your patient and the care they require. Countless times I have viewed an awe-inspiring sunset, when we have dropped off a patient and are heading back to base. Many times I have missed the awe-inspiring sunset, when there was so much going on caring for that critical patient that every second was invested on the care of that patient.

Even knowing the things we know, why does a person decide to go into medical air transport? Do these air medical folks view themselves as ‘heroes’ or, are they just doing a job? If nothing else, most agree, we are all human. And as such, we are open to human frailties. Who is it that makes the decision to transport patients by air as a career, to be placed in an environment that places you as ultimately the person to care for this individual?

There is no stopping for extra equipment or supplies. There is no stopping for a drug or extra personnel to care for the patient. This is an environment where what you fly in with is usually what you have to work with, no matter the degree of illness or injuries.

And that is not to say these medical professionals are able to save every person. Some are beyond the capabilities of even the best of medicine’s

interventions. There are many tales, so sad in the telling, that leave us sometimes wondering why we do this at all. There are good days and there are bad days. Hopefully there are more good than bad. And hopefully, there are more times, even if a person does not survive the event that led us to them in the first place, they, at least, know we made a difference.

The transport of patients, when they are most in need, truly brings out some of the best qualities a person can have. Most ‘seasoned’ medical transport personnel have dealt with the variety of patients that require air evacuation. Most have

stood before the pilot, asking whether it’s a ‘go’ or ‘no go’ decision. Would it be a safe bet to say they all ask the question with no emotional inflection that relays their importance of a ‘go’ decision? Would it be safe to assume there are no ‘outside’ influences? When folks arrive for duty and have had a fight with their spouse, just been told their child is flunking out of school, or realised they are about to bounce that utility cheque?

These are hard questions to answer. Many would like to tell us safety is the priority, despite our records. Others, those willing to admit to our frailties, may admit to maybe caring too much about those in need of transport. Those that make a career of medical transport are a unique blend of professionals. A blend of compassion, and caring when the stakes are the highest. When a person’s very life depends on their skills and abilities. These folks also have a unique set of experiences. Because, let’s face it, nothing can replace what a person learns and feels when they are actually in the life-saving situation, and in fact succeed at saving a person’s life.

So, even when our very lives are at stake, do we make a decision of ‘go’ or ‘no go’? Christine Negroni, an air safety investigator, may have said it best when, after the Michigan fatalities, she said: “It is an inappropriate cost. You don’t kill people to save lives. It’s that simple.”

some allege owners and operators are more interested in numbers and

fiscal accountability

KarenChamberlainispresidentoftheFloridaAirandSurfaceTransportNursesAssociation,directorofclinicalservicesforAirAmbulanceProfessionals,aFortLauderdale,Florida-basedcompanyprovidingfixed-wingpatienttransports,andclinicalsupervisoratBaptistAirTransportService,dealingwithhelicopter,fixed-wingandgroundtransports.Acertifiedflightregisterednurse,shehasextensiveexperienceinemergencyflightmedicine.

commercial carriers3�


Co-operation is key An expert in aerial medicine has called for airlines to co-operate more and share their data on in-flight medical emergencies in order to update provision of equipment and medication that is kept onboard commercial airliners.

In a recent presentation in London, Dr James Ferguson said that most

air-to-ground medical services are still ‘working on decisions based on assumptions made 20 to 30 years ago’. Unfortunately, he added, the same is true of the contents of many

onboard medical kits.From the airlines’ side, diverting an aircraft unnecessarily due to a perceived medical emergency is hugely expensive and can also induce operational risks, but, said Ferguson, there is no system for exchanging information across the industry to enable equipment, training and practices to be optimised. Were there to be such a system, an aircraft would not have to be diverted if the staff onboard were given the tools and training to cope with most, if not all, of emergencies in the air.

Ferguson, who works at the Royal Infirmary, Aberdeen, UK, as well as for the International Centre for Emergency Medicine and its aeromedical service (TheFirstCall), was presenting the UK Royal Society of Medicine with data collected from all medical emergencies the organisation has dealt with. His data showed that the most common problem encountered in the air is diarrhoea, although most onboard emergencies are the result of a pre-existing condition. Ferguson then gave his

recommendations for trying to stem the flow of people becoming ill while in flight: passengers should be educated to a higher level about the risks associated with flying while ill, and more up-to-date training should be provided for flight attendants to help them cope with incidents that arise in flight. TheFirstCall has also called for a data sharing system, which, it said, would save lives, improve the efficiency of medical care in the air and could even serve to kick-start a wider global database.

No more GB AirwaysEasyJet’s takeover of GB Airways, completed at the end of January, could encourage commercial repatriation companies to look beyond the stretcher option, according to the Aeromed365. Paul Golden reports

While British Airways has introduced services on

some of the routes it previously served through GB Airways, the majority are now under the

direction of EasyJet. However, the fact that neither British Airways nor GB Airways’ new owners take stretchers is not a serious concern to Aeromed365 at least, explained managing director Alida Benton, because the company has moved away from using stretchers: “We have found that either using business seats or small air ambulances where the situation is more serious is a better option for us.”

In addition to having little

operational impact on the company, Aeromed365 said the change of ownership at GB Airways will not add significantly to its cost base for similar reasons: “Moving someone commercially on a stretcher means you have to have access to a main hub. By using the air ambulance there is just one ‘hop’ for the patient, which makes it a much less stressful process.”

Will the move by EasyJet to

extend its offering through Gatwick and increase the number of slots at its disposal – as referred to by chief executive Andy Harrison when the deal was announced – encourage others to follow this lead and move away from stretchers? “We have tried to change the operational aspects of the commercial repatriation market,” said Benton. “In many cases using a stretcher is not the best option for the patient.”

Air Malta incubator replacement criticisedAir Malta have defended the installation and testing of a new incubator, which was criticised in the Maltese press as too expensive and too slow. Sarah Lee reports

Incubator provision on Air Malta flights was in the spotlight in

December, with a Times of Malta editorial saying it was ‘unbelievable’ that a new incubator purchased in August 2006 was still subject to a trial run by the Health Department and Air Malta officials. The new unit was bought to replace a 10-year-old incubator that no longer complies with aviation standards.

According to the report, the Health Division said the new incubator could not be used as a method for securing it to the aircraft floor had not yet been found. The previous incubator was secured to seats. However, according to Air Malta the problem was solved in May, with a removable bulkhead to bring the new incubator in line with

European air safety standards.Dr Paul Soler, president of the

Maltese Paediatric Association (MPA), was reported to have serious reservations about the reliability of the new incubator, not least that it does not have enough oxygen for a flight from Malta to the UK, the most common destination for neonatal cases. The health authorities denied this, saying that the five-hour supply is adequate for the three-hour flight from Malta to Gatwick. Dr Soler added that his organisation had not been consulted on the new unit.

The newspaper referred to the ‘wrangling’ between Air Malta, the Health Division and the MPA as smacking of ‘comic opera’. In a letter to the Times, Silvio Falzon, general manager of engineering at Air Malta, responded saying that nine months to design, test and approve such an installation ‘is not an excessive time given the nature of such a change’. He said: “The installation had to be designed and

certified by an appropriately EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) approved organisation to ensure that the structural attachments to an aircraft cabin can withstand all required loads, including those during emergencies. One must also appreciate that the unit has battery-powered electronic systems, including sensors and monitoring equipment, running throughout the flight and although it is a self-contained unit, these could interfere with aircraft instruments. Thus the incubator and its ancillary equipment needed to be checked and certified to ensure they do not interfere with the aircraft systems.”

Mr Falzon said Air Malta encountered difficulties in obtaining advice from other airline operators on the modification, as ‘there is no commercial airline in Europe which carries such equipment on board revenue flights’. Defending Air Malta’s co-ordination with the Health Department, he said: “There was a continuous discussion

with the Foundation for Medical Services (FMS). Air Malta had raised the issue of the unsuitability for air transport of the old incubator in March 2002. Some details about the new incubator being considered for purchase

by FMS were received in early September 2005. After various discussions and correspondence, Air Malta’s engineering department commissioned the design organisation to design and approve the modification in June 2006.”

According to Mr Falzon, the cost of €40,480 was fully endorsed by Air Malta, which will continue to offer its full support to families travelling abroad to undergo urgent medical treatment.

3�medical crew


Didier Dandifrosse introduces the special care needed by premature and newborn babies

If there is one field of medicine that is particularly tough and

demanding it is neonatology. Neonatology is at the crossroads of intensive care and paediatrics, and involves the specialist care of newborn and/or premature babies.

The repatriation or medical transfer of a newborn baby to a specialist unit, invariably using an incubator, can present a real challenge to air ambulance and rescue helicopter teams. The medical skills and equipment necessary to maintain the health and continuous care of the patient, in addition to the complex logistics involved,

require the utmost professionalism and faultless organisation of the team.

Premature babies are extremely fragile and a lot more sensitive to environmental changes than an adult patient. Pressure variations,

changes in temperature, vibration of the aircraft and especially the noise can add stress and destabilise the tiny body far more than an adult patient.

On the ground, the personnel responsible for the care of

premature babies have additional qualifications in neonatology, a specialisation in the field of paediatrics. To be able to perform the same care in the air, these already specialised physicians need to be trained for flight specifics and be familiarised with the aircraft environment. Neonatal missions should include a neonatologist, as well as a specialist intensive care children’s flight nurse/

paramedic who has been trained in advanced paediatric life support (APLS) and is responsible for the handling of the incubator.

The incubator, combined with an intensive care ventilator, is vital equipment for such a transport. These units complement other monitoring equipment and accessories specially adapted for young patients. To minimise all possible risks, it’s advisable to carry back-up units for all vital equipment on the aircraft. As a general rule in the transport of newborn and/or premature babies, quality is more important than speed.

DidierDandrifossehasbeenworkingforEAAmemberLARsince2001,forthelastfiveyearsasheadofthemedicaldepartment,supervisingateamof12full-timeflightnursesandof41freelancephysicians.DidierisfoundermemberoftheLuxembourgResuscitationCouncilandahobbypilotinhisfreetime.

An air ambulance crew member’s speed and professionalism

were put to the test in December when an on-duty call resulted in her rescuing two of her colleagues, pilot Jim Martin and paramedic Jon Ker, from a plane crash in Northumberland, UK.

Jane Peacock, a paramedic for the Great North Air Ambulance (GNAA), was called to the plane crash near Eshott airfield, just off the A1 road, in the vicinity of Burgham Golf Course, commented: “It just started like any other job, we got a call from the ambulance service asking for assistance and we responded. Once we were in the air we were told that a plane had

crashed and two men were trapped. We didn’t realise that it was our colleagues involved until we got there and saw them.”

Recovering from the shock of seeing two of her colleagues trapped in the wreckage, Jane explained: “At that point your professionalism just kicks in. I didn’t really think about who I was rescuing. I just did what I would have done if it was anyone else involved.”

Although the two men were trapped in the wreckage, they were soon released, said Jane: “We freed them quite quickly. From arriving at the incident to getting them into hospital only took about an hour.”

Time and teamwork are important

ingredients in any rescue operation. Jane added: “Time could be vital in determining whether they recover and it just shows how useful the air ambulance is when people need to be rescued from remote locations. The police helicopter based at Newcastle Airport was also a great help and worked extremely well with us.” Without the assistance of the police helicopter, one of the rescued men would have had to travel by road, which would have taken significantly longer, and could have resulted in a less than favourable outcome.

Speaking after the crash, Sarah Booth of the GNAA said: “The latest news we have is that Jim and

Jon are still critical but stable in hospital. We are all hoping they get better and back on their feet as soon as possible. It has been a difficult time for all of us, they are not just patients, they are also our colleagues.”

Jon Ker is still being treated for head injuries. Jim Martin suffered multiple fractures to his head, body, arms and legs, but was released from hospital at the start of this month. Recalling the incident, he said the tail fell off the microlight at around 800 feet. As the plane headed towards the ground, he managed to make a mayday call and aim for the trees which broke their fall.

Paramedic’s shock at treating colleagues

Air experience offered to studentsOrnge, an air ambulance

operator in Canada, is to partner with the Pembroke Regional Hospital to provide local medical students with the opportunity to get a taste of life as a flight paramedic. The

Ornge Academy of Transport Medicine already offers a variety of programmes that are designed to prepare practitioners to work in the air ambulance field, including the Canadian Medical Association-accredited Critical Care Flight

Paramedic programme.Erin McKenna, director of

transport medicine with Ornge, commented: “Our critical care and advanced flight paramedic programmes offer an opportunity for paramedics who want to

expand their scope of practice. Our partnership with the Pembroke Regional Hospital also provides our students with an opportunity to complete the clinical requirement for certification.”

From newborn to airborne

The MediPrema NITE incubator equipped with a Mobile Stephan R120 ventilator used by Luxembourg Air Rescue LAR

40 medical crew


Every first responder knows that in the event of cardiac

arrest or stroke, cessation of oxygen profusion to the brain due to lack of blood flow can lead to brain damage in as little as four minutes. For years, heart surgeons have been using induced mild hypothermia during cardiac bypass surgery – icing the patient to lower body temperature – to limit the chance of brain injury while undergoing the procedure. Initially the non-traumatic cardiac arrest hypothermia protocol was first adopted in the emergency department (ED), where the patent was cooled, placed on a ventilator and monitored in the intensive care unit (ICU). More recently the protocol has been used in the field on advanced life support ground ambulances for heart attack and stroke victims – and now the cool procedure has taken flight.

LifeFlight of Maine, US, was one

of the first air ambulance services to use the induced hypothermia protocol in flight. In fact, according to the Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS), only one other air ambulance crew of their over 300 members uses the technique. Dr Kevin Kendall, medical director for LifeFlight, said he had seen the value of induced hypothermia in Maine’s three trauma centers and thought it was time to incorporate the idea of cooling victims in transit. Dr Kendall said: “We’d be like a flying ICU.”

Cooling in-flight would have the greatest impact on the small percentage of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) victims that even after resuscitation and defibrillation in the field return to a normal heart rhythm, but fail to regain consciousness. Such was the case of Albert Nutter. At only 36 years of age, he suffered a heart attack while playing ball. Paramedics on

scene were able to restore Nutter’s heart to normal rhythm, but he would not wake up. Though his heart was stable, he needed to be airlifted to the nearest trauma centre to evaluate his brain, and hopefully prevent any further damage. Onboard LifeFlight nurse Sandy Benton administered an IV mixed with sedatives that would keep Albert in a coma, and a chilly 40ºF (4ºC) saline solution that would lower his body temperature. While the frigid solution coursed through his veins, paramedics also packed critical body areas in ice – ice packs were placed around the big blood vessels, the neck, under the arms, the groin – and Albert’s temperature slowly came down. He was kept ‘on ice’ throughout the 12 minute flight to the trauma centre and the hypothermia was continued

as he entered the emergency room (ER) and for the next 24 hours in the ICU. His body temperature was now 89ºF (32ºC). After a day of cooling, his temperature was allowed to slowly rise. Four days later his eyes flittered open and he bewilderedly asked: “What happened?”

According to LifeFlight, Albert Nutter is one of five people in Maine who have undergone hypothermia therapy during helicopter transit since the protocol has been adopted.

Since 2003, the American Heart Association has called for increased widespread use of induced hypothermia among unconscious cardiac arrest patients.

Ultrasound use examinedA new study conducted by Seton

and Austin/Travis County EMS is researching whether a new ultrasound machine onboard STARFlight can speed up treatment times. Howard Polden, a flight nurse for the service, commented: “Typically, the types of patients we see are either critically injured or critically ill. Either condition can cause it to be difficult to get vascular access, which is the ability to start an IV into the venous system.” With the help of the new machine, paramedics and nurses

could be able to place an IV into seriously sick or injured patients while onboard.”

STARFlight are now conducting a year-long study into the effectiveness of the machine, to see whether patient outcomes are, in fact, improved by allowing medics to place IVs in patients while in flight. “When somebody has lost a lot of fluid, for whatever reason, their veins are going to be flat because there is less fluid in their body,” said Polden. The medics would then use the ultrasound

machine to guide the catheter into the vein. “This allows us to look down deep into the tissue to find veins that are still there, they’re just not as visible because circulation has been compromised.”

Dr TJ Milling, research director for Brackenridge Emergency Services, highlighted the possible importance of the device: “Sometimes, getting access in the field is the difference between life and

death. They get that IV in the field and start the process of resuscitation with fluids, blood, that can make a huge difference for a patient.”

Innovative airway tube testedA new airway device is being

trialled by emergency medical crews from EVAC ambulance and Port Orange fire and rescue departments, Volusia County, US.

Dr Peter Springer, Volusia County

medical director, said the King Systems Corp. device is simpler, faster and less intrusive to the patient than intubation using a traditional laryngoscope.

The King’s Systems device is a single tube. The fatteris first is

inserted into the mouth and throat, and automatically slides into the oesophagus, shutting it off. A balloon halfway along the device inflates and shuts off the mouth, while a vent hole allows oxygen to be pumped into the

lungs. The device is said to be up to one minute quicker to use than the traditional method, and about 15 seconds faster than a combitube.

The three-month trial will be completed in late April.

Cool new protocols – induced hypothermia for the skies Steve Goodman reports on LifeFlight of Maine’s pioneering use of induced hypothermia for heart attack victims in-flight

41medical crew


Reports praise HEMS resultsThe life-saving capabilities of air ambulances have been recognised in a report that was released recently. Sarah Lee reveals the latest industry findings

The recent publication of a landmark report into the

care of severely injured patients in England, Wales and Northern Ireland has given a very encouraging review of the air ambulance services in the regions. The report, entitled Trauma – Who cares?, was published by the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD). The aim of the enquiry was to produce a comprehensive picture of the current care offered to the critically injured in order to identify remarkable factors in the care of patients and make recommendations for clinicians and managers. The report discovered that in 60 per cent of cases, there was room for improvement in various stages of treatment.

The study paid particular attention to the role played by air ambulances

in care giving, and has found that patients who are transported by air ambulance frequently receive definitive pre-hospital care prior to being transported to the most appropriate hospital as well as improved standards of care. Both of these factors were recognised by the authors as playing a significant part in improving the final patient outcome.

John Tickner, operations manager

of the charity service that operates in Kent, Surrey and Sussex, commented: “We welcome this report and the recognition of the contribution that air ambulances make to the care of patients. Thankfully, the numbers of those who annually are critically injured is relatively small; however, the impact on the lives of these individuals and their families is massive. We firmly believe that by taking the best

possible care to the patient’s side, then delivering them to the hospital we help to minimise the impact wherever possible.”

David Philpott, chief executive of the region’s air ambulance service, said of the report: “What is exceptionally pleasing is that we have already introduced the key recommendations of this landmark report and established

strong links with one of the country’s leading trauma centres. Skilled and experienced doctors already fly onboard our helicopters every hour of our operation.” He continued by saying that the charity is determined not to become complacent as a result of the report.

NCEPOD also made some urgent recommendations to improve patient care in the UK, including the establishment of

links with specialist trauma centres and ensuring that pre-hospital systems enable patients to have access to trained and experienced multidisciplinary teams that include doctors capable of delivering advanced levels of skills.

Meanwhile, results have been published from a report on air ambulance services in Japan. According to the report, when the country’s seven Doctor-Helicopter operators began service in 2003, they provided 1,592 patients with medical care. Of these, 363 died. It is estimated, however, that the figure would have been higher, 496, if they had not been picked up and treated by an air ambulance. The report has stated therefore, that 133 patients’ lives were saved thanks to the treatment they received in the air, from which it concludes that 27 per cent of those patients who were picked up by ground ambulance and died could have been saved, had there been an air ambulance available. By the same token, the number of patients who suffered from after effects of treatment dropped thanks to the air ambulances.

Navy seal training offeredWorking as part of an air

ambulance crew comes with its risks, and requires preparation and foresight to prepare for every eventuality of the life-threatening situations crews often find themselves in. Members of US-based California Shock Trauma Air Rescue (CALSTAR), however, prepare more thoroughly than some, as they are being offered survival training as part of their overall training scheme.

Eric Sprouse, a flight nurse with CALSTAR said: “We do these types of trainings every summer and winter, where we go on a safety stand down and talk about issues and things to make what we do safer.”

The programme was taught by Gary Kibbee, a former Navy Seal Special Forces survival instructor, high angle rescue and dive rescue instructor and specialist in tactical and wilderness medicine, escape

and evasion. Kibbee said the crews of air ambulances operating in certain regions have to know how to cope in the snow, as they are constantly flying over it, and must be prepared to deal with any problem that arises. “There have also been incidents where the pilot drops off the medic and then goes to refuel and the weather then moves in, so they are stuck there,” added Kibbee. Sprouse agreed: “There might be back

country rescues where you come in and then the weather changes and you have to stay overnight or the nurses are away from the helicopter and the pilot is forced to leave, so they have to stay with the patient or alone.”

Participants in the class learned how to build snow shelters and focused on survival skills such as the best way to make a fire in a snowy environment, purifying water and signalling for help.

Royal Jet appoints new medical directorDr Frank Porter has been

appointed as Royal Jet medevac operations director for UAE based air ambulance operator Royal Jet. Dr Porter, from Germany, has extensive global experience of emergency medicine and critical care units.

The company’s president and CEO, Shane O’Hare, welcomed Dr Porter, saying: “I am very

pleased that Dr Porter is joining our organisation where he will, I am sure, keep Royal Jet Medevac Operations at the forefront of the medical evacuation sector and lead us to yet further success in the coming months and years ahead.”

Royal Jet Medevac Operations has a fully medevac-equipped Lear 55 aircraft, as well as the use

of a modern fleet of long range aircraft such as Gulfstreams, Lear 35s and ultra long-range Boeing 737 Business Jets. It can handle up to three intensive care patients in a single aircraft at any one time, and boasts specialist crew and equipment, including neonatal ventialators and defibrillators, and satellite communications. Clients

include private individuals, hospitals, embassies and tour operators, and Royal Jet is sole provider for the armed forces, government health authorities and a number of medical insurance companies. Year-on-year growth in both the number of patients and missions carried out continues to rise by over 60 per cent, says the company.

patients who are transported by air ambulance frequently receive definitive

pre-hospital care

42 medical crew


Ask the experts…Question:

I sometimes wonder if I should be asking for sea-level cabin altitude in patients who are receiving oxygen at ground level. Can you explain why cabin pressurisation is important and how cabin air pressurisation systems work?

Answer:Well, this is a big question

with parts of the answer coming from both physiology and engineering. In fact, the whole issue of cabin pressurisation is a trade off between the demands of aeronautical engineering and human physiology.

Everybody working in the air ambulance industry is familiar with the concept that air pressure decreases with increasing altitude and that gas volume expands as pressure decreases. Therefore, as we fly higher, there are fewer molecules of oxygen in a given volume of gas and hence fewer oxygen molecules available for the requirements of the mitochondria. In simple terms, we become more hypoxic as we fly higher and, beyond certain limits, hypoxia becomes harmful. Different tissues have different oxygen demands, and the most active and fuel-dependent organs, such as the brain and heart, will be first at risk. It is easy to imagine, then, that patients who have problems with oxygenation (i.e. the inspiration, carriage, delivery or utilisation of oxygen) at ground level will be much more at risk at altitude.

Cabin pressurisation is a means of

providing a habitable environment for humans flying at high altitude. High altitude flight is more fuel and time efficient, to such a point that it is simply the only way to travel long haul in the time frames and at the costs that we expect these days.

Some might imagine that the simplest solution would be to build aircraft that can fly at high altitude but always maintain a cabin pressure equivalent to sea-level cabin atmosphere. This would be impossible, simply because of the strength needed in the cabin wall to prevent explosion as the difference between inside and outside pressures increase. The compromise of providing a range of cabin pressures

between 5 and 8 thousand feet and a cruise altitude up to 42 thousand feet works well. Most passengers tolerate cabin pressures in this range without ill effect, and the aircraft can be constructed with strong lightweight materials that easily tolerate the pressure differentials between inside and outside.

Before I give more detail

about the pressurisation system, here are a few definitions to help along the way:

‘Isobaric’ – ‘keeping the pressure the same’ – from Greek‘isos’ meaning ‘equal’

‘baros’ meaning ‘weight’

‘Pressure differential’ – the ‘difference between pressure’ on two sides of a barrier (such as the aircraft cabin wall).

‘PSI’ – ‘pounds per square inch’ – imperial measure of pressure used mainly in US.

‘KPa’ – ‘kilopascals (equal to one newton per square meter)’ – a metric measure of pressure used mostly in Europe.

‘Payload’ – ‘the useful load an aircraft can carry’

Pressure differential is best explained by an example: if the pressure on the outside of the aircraft is 50 KPa and the pressure within the cabin is 75

KPa, then the pressure differential is 75 minus 50, i.e. 25 KPa. However, the pressure on the inside of the cabin cannot be too great because it could rupture the cabin wall, leading to catastrophic decompression and possible loss of the aircraft. Hence cabin pressure must be controlled so that the differential pressure is not beyond the safe limits.

A high differential requires an aircraft structure which is physically stronger and therefore heavier than that required for a lower differential. The increased weight in turn decreases the payload of the aircraft. Also pressurisation requires an expenditure of energy.

The system more often used by passenger carrying commercial aircraft is an ‘isobaric control’ system, in which the cabin altitude is maintained at a constant altitude (pressure) as the outside pressure decreases. Typically the cabin pressure is maintained approximately equivalent to between 6,000 and 8,000 feet throughout the altitude range of the aircraft.

In effect, there are two phases to the isobaric system:

1. Unpressurised range of operation. This means that, as the

In this issue, Dr Terry Martin explains the whys and wherefores of cabin pressurisation

Dr terry Martin

the whole issue of cabin pressurisation is a trade off between the demands of aeronautical engineering

and human physiology.

43medical crew


aircraft climbs, the cabin remains unpressurised up to a preset altitude of 6 to 8,000 feet.

2. Isobaric range of operation. Cabin pressure remains equivalent to the preset altitude. In other words, as the pressure outside gets lower with increasing altitude, the inside pressure is increased so that 6 to 8,000 ft pressure equivalent can be maintained.

How the cabin is pressurised

Outside air is pressurised in the compressor stages of the aircraft jet engines. The outside air becomes very hot as it is compressed, and the portion drawn off for the passenger cabin is first cooled by heat exchangers near the engine struts and then further cooled by air conditioning units under the floor of the cabin. The air then flows to a chamber where it is mixed with an equal amount of highly filtered air from the passenger cabin. The pressurised mix of combined outside and filtered air is ducted to the cabin and distributed through overhead outlets where it flows in a circular pattern (see diagram) and exits through floor grilles on either side of the cabin.

About half of the air is exhausted from the cabin through an outflow valve to the outside atmosphere. It is the flow rate through this valve that controls the cabin pressure. The remaining air is drawn by fans through special filters under the cabin floor, and then is mixed with the outside air coming in from the engine compressors and the cycle starts again.

Some other interesting features of cabin air conditioning

These high efficiency filters under the cabin floor are similar to those used to keep the air clean in surgical operating theatres. These filters are very effective at trapping microscopic particles as small as bacteria and viruses. More than 94 per cent of the airborne microbes reaching these filters are captured.

Atmospheric temperature declines fairly predictably at approximately 2ºC per thousand feet throughout the troposphere – this is called the adiabatic lapse rate. The amount of water that can be ‘held’ in air depends on its temperature, and cold air is drier than warm air. Hence, cabin air, which is compressed from

outside air, is very dry at cruise altitudes. However, with 50 per cent recirculation of air moisturised by passengers’ expired breath, the cabin is at least provided with a modest level of humidity in newer jetliners compared to the very low levels in earlier models. Most travellers have experienced the discomfort of the effects of low humidity, but some patients tolerate the dry atmosphere very poorly, especially those who require oxygen en route.

Requesting ‘sea-level’ cabin air pressure

All too often one hears of ridiculous demands for ‘sea-level cabin altitude’ for patients who do not require it, and in aircraft that cannot produce it!

Whenever a patient requires a higher ambient cabin air pressure, the aeromedical escort should discuss the problem with the captain of the aircraft.

Anticipation before departure and clearly thought out plans can prevent deterioration in flight or an unplanned diversion in the event of a failure to provide enough oxygen for the patient. To plan effectively, it is important to understand the relationships between altitude and pressure, and also altitude and gas volume. It is only armed with this knowledge that sensible decisions about safe cabin altitude for seriously ill patients can be made.

Flight crew survey launchedThe Aeromed Flight

Program (AFP) has put out the call for medical flight crew members to complete its online survey, which will form part of a nursing research project, Work Related Musculoskeletal Symptoms Reported by Medical Flight Crew, being conducted at Tampa General Hospital, US.

AFP say the aim of the study is to identify self-reported prevalence, location and severity (frequency, duration, intensity) of work related musculoskeletal symptoms among medical flight crew members, and to identify characteristics associated with those injuries. The second aim is to examine age-related differences among crew members.

The data collected will include location and severity of musculoskeletal symptoms, age, work characteristics (such as hours of flight time), and use of assistive devices such as self-lifting gurneys.

AFP is working to develop increased involvement in research and integrating those research outcomes into the prevention of illness and injury. The Program says identification of the scope of the problem is an important first step in the process to reduce the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms in medical flight crew members. It suggests that the flight nurses and medics are a stable population with fewer turnovers than other fields, leading to a majority of older crew members who have been in the field many years, adding that this same age group is susceptible to injuries for a number of reasons.

According to AFP, this will be the first study to determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms among medical transport members specifically, and correlate them with ages of medical flight members.

TerryMartinisaformerairforcedoctorandhelicopterpilotwithabroad-basedbackgroundinanaesthetics,intensivecare,emergencymedicine,generalpractice,andaviationmedicine.Hehasworkedineveryaspectofcivilianandmilitaryfixed-wingandhelicopteraeromedicaltransportsincethe1980sandiscurrentlyaconsultantanaesthetistandintensivecaretutorinEngland.Inaddition,hedirectsandteachestheUniversityofOtagoaeromedicalretrievalandtransportcourses,aswellasthe‘ClinicalConsiderationsinAeromedicalTransport’,‘MedicalEmergenciesinFlight’andthe‘HelicopterMedicalFlightCrew’coursesintheUK.

The compromise of providing a range of cabin pressures between five and eight thousand feet and a cruise altitude up to 42 thousand

feet works well

Have you ever had one of those moments where your colleagues are discussing a particular aspect of a helicopter or mission, and you’re not totally sure what they are on about?

Ask the Expert is your chance to get the answer to the question that has been bugging you for ages.We won’t publish your details if you don’t want us to, what we want to offer you is a chance to learn from others in the industry. If you have a question that needs answering, please get in touch: [email protected].

44


Lyssiemay Annoh looks at a global upward trend in pilot retirement age limits

Since the European Union (EU) anti-

discrimination directive was published in 2000, here in the UK debate has raged as to what age discrimination laws should cover. The directive obliged all EU member states to introduce age discrimination laws implementing the directive by December 2006. It is, therefore, illuminating to understand the approach taken towards pilots in the EU.

The European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) suggested that the upper age limit for cabin crew on passenger flights might be increased to 65, but falls short at 64 for pilots under its JAR-FCL

1.060 rule. In November 2006, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), an agency

of the United Nations, increased the upper age limit for pilots to 65, provided that the co-pilot is below age 60. This forced the hand of the

US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and last December, President Bush ended US airline

industry controversy and signed a bill raising the retirement age for commercial pilots to 65 from 60.

Interestingly, British Airways (BA), Europe’s third largest airline, announced in March 2006 that it will increase the age of retirement of pilots and other staff, including cabin crew, to 60 years from the currently prevailing 55 years, and raise it to 65 over the next five years. Last month, the French pilot campaign group PNT65 backed a proposed new law that aims to increase the maximum retirement

age for commercial pilots in France from 60 to 65 years. Will this make BA implement its change earlier, and how does the ICAO decision affect

commercial pilots across the globe?The new rule does not allow pilots

who have already turned 60 to reclaim their jobs or seniority, and pilots can only fly up to 65 if their co-pilot is under 60. The confusion about the difference between the active age limit and the retirement age remains unsolved. Those who support the idea, such as the Air Line Pilots Association, which represents most US pilots, applaud the move and say that ‘experience counts’. On the other hand, the Allied Pilots Association put out a press release saying that preliminary results from a public survey showed that the public didn’t like the idea. They added that their pilots support the age-60 retirement limit by a seven-to-one margin for safety reasons, because, after all, pilots are in the best position to ascertain the effects of ageing on their own stamina and skills and on those of their fellow pilots.

Nevertheless, raising the limit may create a positive impact and perhaps solve the problem of pilot shortages or encourage part-time opportunities.

Retirement age increase in US and France

Closure threat for Chicago heliportA hospital in Chicago is at loggerheads with residents over a planned heliport. Lyssiemay Annoh enters the fray

There are calls from a neighbourhood organisation

to city officials to halt plans for a heliport to be built on top of the proposed Children’s Memorial Hospital in Streeterville, Chicago, US. It claims that experts consider the project too ‘risky’ because of local flying conditions.

Former air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, Mark Doub, and Thomas C. Cooke, an aerospace and engineering professor at the University of Notre Dame, examined risk assessments commissioned by the hospital and regarded the project as high risk, due to high lakefront winds at the proposed site (211 E Chicago Ave) and the number of skyscrapers

in the area. These were mentioned in reports handed to the Streeterville Organization of Active Residents (SOAR).

Doub wrote in his report that he feared a lot of the issues a pilot could face while approaching the proposed rooftop site, such as a lack of emergency landing space, which heightens the danger of a missed approach, were not considered. He added that: “This is contrary to safe heliport planning and puts the helicopter ... operator, patients and community at risk.”

In April 2006, hospital officials announced plans to move from their existing multi-building campus, covering 14 acres in Lincoln Park, to build an $800 million

facility in Streeterville by 2012. Presently, the hospital relies heavily on helicopters to transport more than 70 critically ill and transplant patients every year.

According to hospital spokeswoman Julie Pesch, all these lives depend on a heliport at the facility.

While defending the hospital’s safety reviews, which had been commissioned from Landrum & Brown, an aviation firm with experience of Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, the Chicago Spire and the RWDI Group, Julie Pesch said: “Safety is our top priority. We’re looking at saving more than 70 lives a year here, so that heliport is essential to our plans.”

The confusion about the difference between the active age limit and the

retirement age remains unsolved

45


Washington accident caused by pilot errorLyssiemay Annoh looks into the NTSB reports on two air ambulance crashes in Washington, US

After a wait of three long years, the National Transportation

Safety Board (NTSB) has determined that pilot error was to blame for the first of the two Washington, US medevac accidents.

The pilot ‘failed to identify and arrest the helicopter’s descent’ into the river, likely because he had been scanning the sky for a jet flying in the opposite direction and did not pay adequate attention to his instruments in the moments before the crash, according to the conclusions of the NTSB.

The investigation also revealed that the aircraft’s radar altimeter, which measures the height above the ground, wasn’t functioning at the time of the crash. Under federal regulations, the helicopter could be flown with the faulty device for at least 10 days.

The fate of pilot Joseph E. Schaefer III of Sterling, and his paramedic, Nicole Kielar of Henrico County, was determined by a lack of orientation as they flew without any visual clues from Washington Hospital Center to Stafford County. According to the report, soon after flying over Woodrow Wilson Bridge on a cold night in early 2005, the medical helicopter entered a black void: flying

200 feet above dark water and below a moonless sky. The helicopter went into a gradual descent and crashed into the river, resulting in the death of the pilot and a paramedic. The flight nurse at the time, Jonathan Godfrey of Chesapeake Beach, escaped the helicopter and held on tightly to a piece of wreckage until he was found.

The helicopter was operated by Colorado-based Air Methods. Representatives say that since the accident, all of the company’s helicopters are now required to have functioning radar altimeters if they flown at night.

Chief executive Aaron Todd said: “We are very proud of our safety record.”

The NYSB report included the

detail that on joining Air Methods, Shaefer failed to inform the company that his previous employer had fired him after two weeks of work, saying he was unable to adequately perform complex tasks in the cockpit. He did, however, pass Air Methods’ tests and training programmes, according to director of operations Brian Foster.

In the other Washington medevac incident, a medical helicopter was trying to land at Washington Hospital Center with a critically ill patient, when he crashed on the grounds of the nearby US Armed Forces Retirement Home in Northwest Washington on the afternoon of 30 May 2006. The helicopter was operated by CJ

Systems Aviation Group, recently was bought by Air Methods.

District of Columbia medical examiners concluded that the patient, Steven Gaston of Southeast Washington, died from the injuries he suffered in the accident. The pilot and two crew members received injuries. The NTSB is yet to present its report on the crash, but earlier documents released indicate that the pilot may have been confused after accidentally turning off one of the aircraft’s automated engine control systems while attempting to land at the hospital. Nevertheless, investigators have already said that they found no mechanical problems with the helicopter.

US congressman John Salazar, Colorado, has introduced

legislation aimed at improving safety for aircraft providing emergency medical services. Salazar, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and Subcommittee on Aviation, said he was moved to act following three fatal air ambulance crashes in his congressional district since the start of 2005.

Salazar cited the recommendations made to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to improve the safety of EMS flights by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in January 2006, which included removing the Part 91 section, meaning all legs of a flight would be

subject to the same safety regulations whether a patient or organ were on board or not. His HR3939 legislation would remove Part 91 regulations for emergency medical flights and require that all legs of the flights operate under Part 135 regulations, which currently are only a requirement while aircraft are transporting patients or human organs.

Representative Salazar said: “By introducing this legislation, we are honoring the remarkable sacrifices of those who have given their lives while trying to save others. It is my hope that this legislation will prevent similar tragedies from happening in the future ... This is very important for the Valley and really important for the district in general.”

Moves to tighten US legislation

The NTSB has blamed pilot error for an Air Methods helicopter crash near Woodrow Wilson Bridge in 2005

4�


From engineer to pilotIndian state-owned Pawan Hans

Helicopters Ltd is facing a severe shortage of trained pilots, and as such, has decided to upgrade the skills of its aeronautical engineers to turn them into pilots. The process is predicted to cost the company Rs 1.5 million per person, and in return, it will seek a 10-year bond from the engineers, who are also required to invest Rs 750,000 lakh from their own pockets for the training.

So far, the project is modest with just 10 engineers, although there are plans in place to extend it if successful. The company, which currently owns and operates 35 helicopters, has said it would like to acquire a further 20 aircraft and cash in on the current aviation boom. At the moment, India has around 170 helicopters, but not nearly as many pilots. As an illustrative case, around three years ago, the paramilitary force bought six MI-6 choppers,

and to this day they remain parked at Safdarjung Airport as there was no one to fly them. In a few years, it is predicted that the number of helicopters is going to rise to above 500; hence the requirement for pilots will only grow.

So bad is the situation, according to local press, that Pawan Hans does not even want to divulge the number of pilots it already has for the 35-chopper fleet, for fear of their pilots being poached by

another company. RK Tyagi, who introduced the scheme, said: “We need pilots and who can understand choppers better than the engineers that have been working on them for years. This offer is open to all permanent employees subject to medical clearance and passing DGCA exams.” The difference in salary from engineer to pilot is substantial in India, creating a good incentive for those engineers who fancy a change.

Windshield safety in the courtsAlleging that he suffered serious

injuries when a bird hit the windscreen of the helicopter he was flying, a former pilot for Florida Power & Light Company has sued the company, claiming that he had been told that the windshield was

bird-proof.John Spatuzzi, a resident of Palm

City, was flying seven miles northeast of Palm Beach International Airport when a bird hit the windshield, forcing him to make an emergency landing. Spatuzzi has also named the

manufacturer, AgustaWestland, as a defendant in the case. The impact lodged a piece of metal in between Spatuzzi’s eyebrow and eye, and left scarring on his face, according to the lawsuit. The bird’s condition was not reported.

Last Vietnam vet retires

Colonel Dennis Miller has finally left the air after 37 years of

flying different helicopters. Miller was one of dozens of veteran pilots who returned from Vietnam and joined the National Guard. Having flown 513 hours in combat, he went on to accumulate 4,700 hours in the air helping to fight forest fires and rescuing people in need during blizzards and storms. He first flew the UH-1 (Huey) helicopter, as well as the smaller OH-6 and OH-58 models. When the Guard modernised its aviation tools in the late 1990s, he was the first pilot in the state to qualify in the UH-60 Blackhawk and became the state’s first UH-60 maintenance test pilot.

Miller served with the 48th Assault Company, known as the Blue Stars, which consisted of Hueys and Cobra gunships. Its missions included resupply, troop insertions and casualty evacuations. He said of his first troop insertion: “We were flying in a really tight formation, when all of a sudden, the gunship right next to us let go a blast of rockets that streaked right by my window.” He tried to bring the

helicopter in to land and drop off his cargo of troops. “There was stuff flying everywhere; the crew chiefs started screaming for the soldiers to jump out; incoming mortar rounds were exploding; and just like that, we were up and flying again. The rush of adrenaline was overwhelming.”

Future missions took him from the demilitarised zone to My Lai, supporting the 101st Airborne at Phu Bai and the Marines in the mountains. Recalling one rescue mission, he said: “We were in contact with a major and a corporal who were wounded, and every time we got ready to extract them, the major would break us off because the enemy was closing in on them and they had to move and

evade.” Miller’s Huey, along with another Huey and a Cobra, played cat and mouse with the enemy as the Marines tried to find a way out of the jungle. After several attempts,

the choppers were low on fuel, but decided to make one last try. “We finally got them onboard my ship,” said Miller. “I turned and looked at that corporal’s face. He thought he was going to die in that jungle and we saved him.”

Colonel Miller has collected a raft of awards throughout his service.

Meanwhile, Bruce Crandall, a Medal of Honor recipient who also flew Hueys in the Vietnam

war, recently got to repeat that experience. He flew a vintage Huey, just like the one he piloted in ’Nam to rescue dozens of wounded soldiers, during a televised event to honor Vietnam Vets. Crandall said the Huey was just about the best helicopter built for combat ever.

Flying the Huey brought back a ton of memories for the retired army lieutenant colonel. He said: “I loved it, I flew all over the world, I flew into the jungles of South America and the Arctic.”

Flying the venerable ’copter on television was not Crandall’s first brush with fame, he said in the

Mel Gibson movie We Were Soldiers he was portrayed by Greg Kinnear. But fame compares little to the thrill of being able to get behind the stick of a Huey one more time, said Bruce: “A guy my age can’t describe it to you, except it’s better than sex.”

The last of the American helicopter pilots that served in the Vietnam conflict has retired from active service with the South Dakota National Guard

UH-1D helicopters airlift members of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 1966US Military

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Charity pays tribute to long-serving pilotTony Stevens,

one of the UK’s most experienced air ambulance pilots, is due to leave County Air Ambulance at the end of February. Tony, 49, a former North Sea helicopter pilot from Newport in Shropshire, UK, has been with the service since 1991, clocking up thousands of flying hours. He

will move to a senior training post at helicopter operating company Bond Air Services, which leases the County Air Ambulance aircraft.

Saying he will be sad to leave friends and colleagues at the RAF Cosford base in Shropshire, Tony commented: “I have had a wonderful time with County, sharing all the emotions of being at the heart of a very important and vital service. I shall miss everyone connected with County, but I feel the time is right now to relinquish

the controls and move on to pastures new.”

County Air Ambulance operations manager Ian Clayton added: “[Tony’s] contribution to the success of County Air Ambulance cannot be understated and his total professionalism in the air has undoubtedly led to many lives being saved.”

Serving an area of 8,000 square miles in nine counties in the UK, County Air Ambulance is a charity entirely funded through public donations.

NTSB safety alertRecent investigations by the US

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have identified several accidents that involved controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) by both instrument flight rules-rated (IFR) and visual flight rules (VFR) pilots operating under visual flight conditions at night in remote areas. In many of the cases, said the NTSB, the pilots were in contact with air traffic control at the time of the accident, and were also receiving radar service, yet all the pilots and controllers involved appear to have been unaware that their aircraft was in danger. In all of the cases presented by the Board, it said that increased altitude awareness and better pre-flight planning would have prevented the accidents from occurring.

The NTSB cited examples such as a Learjet that departed from Brown Field, south of San Diego, California, and struck terrain while being radar vectored in a mountainous area east of the airport, resulting in three fatalities. Another case involved a Piper Saratoga, which departed from Bakersfield, California, and descended from 8,500 feet to 6,500 feet and collided with a 6,700-foot peak; two people were killed as a result. The crashes of a Piper Cherokee, two King Airs and a Cessna 182 were also given as examples of disasters that could have been averted.

The NTSB advised pilots that most CFIT accidents could be avoided through pre-flight planning and terrain familiarisation, which

is critical to safe visual operations at night. It recommended the use of sectional charts or other topographic references to ensure the plane’s altitude will safely clear the terrain and obstructions along the planned route. In remote areas, states the safety board, pilots should be aware that darkness may render visual avoidance of high terrain nearly impossible and that the absence of ground lights may result in loss of horizon reference. Thus, when planning a night-time flight, pilots should follow IFR practices such as climbing on a known safe course until well above surrounding terrain and choosing a cruising altitude that provides terrain separation similar to IFR flights. Other advice given states that when receiving radar services,

pilots should not depend on air traffic controllers to warn them of potential hazards, as controllers may also not always be able to recognise that a particular VFR aircraft is dangerously close to the ground – when issued a heading along with the instruction to ‘maintain VFR’, pilots should be aware that the heading may not provide adequate terrain clearance.

The report suggested that supplemental oxygen be used for flights above 5,000 feet, to improve night vision. Finally, the NTSB recommended that if a pilot flies at night, especially in remote or unlit areas, they should consider whether a global positioning system-based terrain awareness unit would improve the safety of the flight for those on board.

New night vision training offeredNight Flight Concepts, a US-

based company, is taking a leaf out of the military’s book by becoming the first civilian night vision goggle (NVG) flight school to use the Virtual Terrain Board (VTB) from Night Readiness.

The VTB training system is a state-of-the-art accurate representation of the NVG environment, allowing viewing from a point that is either fixed in space with slew and zoom, or in a fly-through mode at different altitudes throughout an

environment. Military units across the US are said to have already incorporated the VTB into their training. The objective of the training course run by Night Flight Concepts is to provide pilots with academic training for the NVG initial qualification, recurrent, re-qualification, transition, flight instructor training and crew resource management with crew risk assessment and mitigation.

Adam Aldous, president of the company, said: “We are excited to offer a training system like the

VTB to our customers, this is a great opportunity to utilise a tool in the civilian sector that the military has tried and tested.” The VTB, according to Aldous, ‘meets and exceeds’ the training capabilities of the classic physical terrain board.

The VTB creates an immersive environment where the student will view a normal unaided night scene in a blacked out classroom. The

same scene will then be seen in an extremely high definition, true physics-based NVG representation.

The Night Flight Concepts’ Virtual Terrain Board for night vision goggle training Night Flight Concepts

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10 years service for Seasprite The Egyptian Air Force has

completed 10 years of successful service with its fleet of

Kaman Super Seasprite SH-2G(E) helicopters – the country was the first international military force

to elect the Seasprite as its chopper of choice. The Air Force operates the helicopters from land and onboard ships belonging to the Egyptian Navy, performing a variety of maritime missions from anti-submarine

warfare and anti-ship surveillance to search and rescue operations. The nine aircraft it owns have together accumulated more than 8,000 hours of flight time in their decade of service.

Bob Manaskie, senior manager of the SH-2G programmes for Kaman Aerospace, commented: “The Egyptian Air Force continues to operate the aircraft with the highest degree of operations capability in very adverse environments. Individual missions can have the aircraft operating in humid, marine environments, as well as in the hot, windy sandy conditions found in the Egyptian desert.” He added

that the helicopters also co-operate closely with the country’s Navy while they conduct their exercises.

Other international customers that use the Seasprite include the US Navy, Royal Australian Navy, the Royal New Zealand Navy and the Polish naval services. The SH-2G fleet has managed to accumulate more than 1.3 million hours in the air during its lifespan, and also continues to have the highest power-to-weight ratio of any maritime helicopter. Kaman Corporation is based in Connecticut, US, and conducts business in the aerospace, industrial distribution and music markets.

Busiest year for UK Navy SAR teamA Scotland-based Royal Navy search and rescue team made history by carrying out more missions in 2007 than any other UK helicopter search team. Lyssiemay Annoh looks back on a busy year

After 357 helicopter missions in 2007, 100 more than any UK

helicopter base has ever undertaken, the crew of the three Sea King Search and Rescue helicopters based at HMS Gannet, in Prestwick, Ayrshire, have a lot to be proud of. They are the first single UK search and rescue unit to assist 349 people since the Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre records began in 1983.

Because of the lack of snow, many more people are walking in the hills, and thanks to the invention of mobile phones, it’s easy to call the rescue service when the walks become challenging. Gannet Search and Rescue Officer Lieutenant Commander Florry Ford says that people are also becoming adventurous and carrying out dangerous sports.

The missions ranged from rescuing survivors of a boat explosion near Loch Lomond, to pulling injured climbers off Ben Nevis in poor weather – and even airlifting a rather

large and amorous bull to safety after injuring itself on a local farm. “You never know what’s gonna come your way from year to year,” says Commander Ford.

According to Lieutenant Commander Martin Lanni, it took a whole night (21:00 to 06:30) to rescue three climbers from Ben Nevis in June. He said: “We had a crewman swinging on a 250-foot [76-metre] wire to get down to three men and two mountain rescue team members who had reached them. In total the guy had to go up and down five times. These guys on the wire are very brave. They have got nothing below them at times but 200 feet [61 metres] of air. I really take my hat off to them because it’s scary enough being in the front of the helicopter.”

The crew welcomed the New Year with four missions. These include rescuing a person with spinal injuries from the River Etive near Glen Coe, one of Scotland’s most challenging stretches of water for canoeists; assisting two old women with suspected heart attacks, one aged 78 and the other aged 69. The final applause goes to transferring a 23-year-old woman with serious asthma while enjoying the best fireworks display in Scotland as they flew overhead along the Clyde – all the way from Glasgow to Prestwick.

It’s fair to say that the whole Christmas week was a busy one for the festive crew as they transferred a premature baby across the Irish Sea safely from Craigavon on the shores of Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland to Yorkhill on Christmas Day. They also managed to pick up a doctor and nurse from Yorkhill on the outward journey.

Lieutenant James Bullock, d uty officer in charge at Christmas said: “It’s always difficult to be separated from family and friends at this time of year. But search and rescue is a vital emergency service, an essential job, and we are always happy to be able to help out people in distress. And it was nice to be able to get the baby safely to hospital and finish off Christmas with a bit of festive good news.”

The Gannet Search and Rescue record breakers also find time

to join in community projects. They once lifted a footpath bridge to a remote site and helped local ramblers enjoy Forestry Commission trails.

UK Royal Navy

US Navy

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Inquiry says winch would have saved paraThe British press has reported on

the case of a UK paratrooper who died in Afghanistan in September 2006; a military enquiry has concluded that he would have been saved had the rescue helicopter that picked him up been equipped with a winch.

Cpl Mark Wright died after being injured in a minefield in Helmand. He successfully crossed the minefield

to reach an injured colleague, but the RAF Chinook rescue helicopter had no hoist and set off a landmine while trying to land, severely wounding Cpl Wright. Five hours later, they were rescued by a US helicopter, but Cpl Wright died before they could reach a hospital.

According to the military enquiry, Cpl Wright’s death was the result of incompetence and shortages.

Liam Fox, shadow defence secretary, commented: “This is a catalogue of unacceptable errors.” A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence said: “A fault necessitated all the winches being returned to the UK.”

Cpl Mark Wright was awarded a posthumous George Cross for his efforts to save wounded comrades.

UAVs to patrol UK’s southeast coast

Unmanned aircraft could be used for police and coastal patrol work on Britain’s southeast coast from 2012, following the launch of a new project that sees BAE Systems partnering with a range of government bodies. Sara Waddington reports

The new project, called the South Coast Partnership, will

see BAE Systems using its expertise in fully autonomous unmanned air systems (or UASs) to work with partners, such as Kent Police, Essex Police and the Border and Immigration Agency, to ensure that UASs are introduced as efficiently and effectively as possible.

“Although some trials of remote-

controlled air vehicles have been carried out by police forces in Britain, this will be the first time that autonomous aircraft will be used by civil bodies in the UK,” BAE Systems explained. “2012 is the date currently accepted by ASTRAEA, and other bodies concerned with the development and certification of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), as the earliest achievable date for UAVs to operate in controlled airspace.”

ASTRAEA (Autonomous Systems Technology Related Airborne Evaluation and Assessment) is a £32-million collaborative UK programme, part-funded by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTi), to open opportunities for the civil use of UAVs by allowing their routine use in segregated and non-segregated airspace.

“From 2012, fully autonomous unmanned air systems could be routinely used by border agencies, the police and other government bodies,” said Andrew Mellors,

head of Civil Autonomous Systems at BAE Systems. “These systems will be fully autonomous so that operators task the vehicles and receive the relevant imagery and intelligence direct to the ground control station in real time.”

Unmanned systems for surveillance policing have also been used by police forces in the US (for example the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department) and Israel. The Sacramento police, which has an urban UAV programme, has cited potential UAV capability during floods, for shining infrared lights on levees to detect leaks, freeing up helicopters to handle essential calls.

UASs can undertake a range of tasks that are difficult or expensive for manned aircraft. With their long endurance and ability to operate in potentially hazardous environments, they offer real potential for maritime and coastline surveillance as well as showing broader potential for areas such as pipeline, plant and infrastructure surveillance.

IAF airlifts soldiers from IranThe Indian Air Force has

used a converted AN-32 transport aircraft to carry out a medical evacuation of critically injured Indian security personnel from a town in Iran. Five people from the Indo-Tibet Border Police were seriously injured as the result of a suicide attack on their convoy in the Zaranj province of southwest

Afghanistan at the beginning of January. The personnel were being deployed at Project Zaranj when the attack was carried out. The injured men were rushed to a border town in Iran, where they were given immediate treatment. India has thanked the emergency services provided by the Iranian authorities. Two people were killed in the attack, whose mortal remains were also airlifted back to India.

A BAE Systems HERTI umanned air vehicle (UAV) bAE

UK

Arm

y

An Indian Air Force AN-32IAF

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Bell-Boeing’s troubled V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft continues to generate headlines, and the recent deployment to Iraq of ten US Marine Corps Ospreys has raised fresh concerns about this aircraft’s suitability for demanding military operations. Bill Rose has the details

On paper, the Osprey’s

unique design combines the capabilities of a helicopter with a fixed-wing aircraft, making it a supremely versatile machine capable of undertaking a wide range of tasks. The Osprey can lift off the ground vertically, hover, then tilt both of its huge 11.6-metre diameter rotors forward and fly horizontally.

At least 24 soldiers with their personal equipment can be accommodated within the aircraft and, depending on its mission, the Osprey has an estimated flight radius of 690 kilometres that can be extended with aerial refuelling. A maximum speed of about 275 knots exceeds the performance of any helicopter and the Osprey can cruise at altitudes well above the reach of small arms fire or shoulder launched missiles.

These features have made it particularly attractive to the US military for a variety of Special Forces operations, medevac and the recovery of downed pilots in hostile territory.

But cutting-edge performance comes at a price, and this very

expensive, complex aircraft has been plagued by technical problems since the start of its lengthy development programme, with Osprey crashes accounting for the deaths of thirty personnel. In fact, after the last fatal crash on 11 December 2000, Osprey pilots were ordered to fly less aggressively, which raised

serious doubts about the aircraft’s value in a combat environment.

The most recent incident involving a US Marine Corps Osprey took place on 6 November 2007, when a serious in-flight engine fire forced one of these aircraft to make an emergency landing in North Carolina. Although crew were uninjured, the Osprey was badly damaged and the cause of the fire was quickly traced to an engine air particle separator (EAPS). These components are used to keep dirt and damaging particles from entering the engines, and a known flaw with the design has led to problems in the past. As a matter of priority, Bell-Boeing is currently providing modification kits to prevent further fires, but it is accepted that this is only a stop-

gap solution and a permanent fix is needed. As a direct consequence of this problem, all domestically based Ospreys have been grounded until they are cleared for normal flight status, and the EAPS modifications

should be

completed by the end

of February 2008. In the case of the US Marine Corp Osprey’s currently operating in Iraq, all EAPS units were already modified to cope with harsh local conditions and these aircraft are unaffected by the restrictions.

However, despite the aircraft’s history and the recent engine problems, Popular Science Magazine chose to award the Osprey with their ‘What’s New’ award during November 2007, describing the aircraft as a ‘two-in-one-marvel’. Bell-Boeing was clearly delighted to receive this award, with programme director Bill Kenney thanking Popular Science for their recognition of the Osprey, and paying tribute to the many Bell and Boeing employees who had made the Osprey possible and members of the US Marine Corps and US Air Force who

operate the aircraft.While concerns linger about the

Osprey’s suitability for hazardous military operations, the aircraft

showed its suitability for search and rescue when a US Air Force Osprey from Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico undertook its first operational mission on 5 October 2007, following

an urgent request from local civil authorities to locate an overdue air ambulance. Unfortunately, the missing aircraft had crashed near the summit of a mountain and there were no survivors, but the Osprey performed well and showed that it has a definite edge in some situations.

So far, apart from one emergency landing in Jordan during October 2007, due to a wiring fault, the Ospreys based in Iraq have performed well, with relatively minor technical problems arising. The aircraft have been used for ferry flights and several ‘aeroscout’ missions, carrying troops searching for insurgents. At present, the Osprey remains on trial and much is at stake. Billions of dollars have been invested in this programme, hundreds of aircraft are scheduled to be built and many jobs at Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. of Fort Worth and Boeing’s Helicopter Division, near Philadelphia, depend on the Osprey’s success.

Training complete in MaltaGraduates of the latest course on

search and rescue and counter-narcotics operations have been presented with certificates by Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) Commander Brigadier Carmelo Vassallo and US Ambassador Mollu Bordanaro. The course was held at AFM’s search and rescue training centre in Safi Barracks, and the students hailed from all over the world, including Albania, Croatia,

Equatorial Guinea and Kenya.During the ceremony, Ambassador

Bordanaro told the graduates: “You arrived here from all points of the globe charged by your countries to learn about search and rescue best practices used by Malta and the US. You will now be able to apply that knowledge to your regions of responsibility. Today’s ceremony is one more step in making our seas,

countries and homes safe.” She went on to say that, from very humble beginnings, the Maltese forces have now trained over 30 foreign students in the art of search and rescue.

The training undertaken on the course is modelled on US Coastguard methodology and updated to International Aeronautical and Maritime SAR Manual standards. Since 2006, the

SAR training centre in Malta has opened its doors to other countries seeking the specialised, four-week course. In partnership with the US Coastguard, AFM now offers three courses per year to maritime officers from all over the world. Funding is provided by the US, which also gives administrative assistance, allowing foreign students to attend the course on a full scholarship.

Testing times for the Osprey

A maximum speed of about 275 knots exceeds

the performance of any helicopter

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RAF crew honoured by UK Prime MinisterFour RAF crew have won lifesaving awards, as Lyssiemay Annoh reports

Four UK Royal Air Force (RAF) search and rescue personnel

were presented with Vodafone Lifesavers Awards by Prime Minister Gordon Brown at a ceremony at 10 Downing Street on 18 December 2007. The Prime Minister thanked the winners on behalf of the United Kingdom and reminded them of Sir Winston Churchill’s memorable phrase, ‘nothing can be achieved without courage’.

The proud helicopter crew from RAF Leconfield were Squadron Leader Paul Coleman (captain and pilot); Flight Lieutenant Iain

Robertson (co-pilot); Sergeant Adrian Cooper (radar/winch operator) and Sergeant Dave Standbridge (winchman). They battled a fierce storm in August 2005 to reach three of the Molly Louise yacht’s crew who had been washed overboard and were being hammered by big waves.

Flt Lt Robertson said: “You just never know in this business what you are going to find when you get to an incident like this. We were so fortunate that the crew of a rig support vessel – The Puttford Provider – had worked out exactly where the three people in the water would be. That saved valuable minutes. In 300 rescues over 20 years this was the most memorable.

Meeting the Prime Minister was a very enjoyable experience, especially to hear him say that it is the people in the rescue services who matter.”

The three were winched to safety and urgent medical attention was administered by the helicopter crew. At one point, Flt Lt Robertson left his seat at the front and attempted

resuscitation for several minutes on the most seriously injured man. Sadly, he did not respond. The lives of the other two were saved, and the fourth person was later winched safely off the RNLI Humber lifeboat.

Sgt Cooper and Sgt Standbridge were on duty in the Falkland Islands so were unable to attend the ceremony.

Sasemar receives first AW139sAgustaWestland has delivered

the first two AW139s to Sasemar, the Spanish Marine Safety Agency, at a ceremony held at the company’s Italian base. Spain’s minister of development, Señora Doña Magdalena Alvarez Arza, attended the event to note the delivery of the helicopters, which are part of the initial contract for three of the aircraft agreed in 2006. A follow-on order for two additional helicopters was placed in October 2007, confirming Sasemar’s satisfaction with them.

During the ceremony, Señora Arza said: “The AW139 features state-of-the-art technology and impressive performance to meet the requirements of the team. The operational readiness of these first two helicopters will dramatically improve Sasemar’s capability in successfully accomplishing its duty.”

Guiseppe Orsi, CEO of AgustaWestland, added that he was ‘delighted and proud’ to help develop Spain’s emergency services’ capabilities: “We are committed to offering the best helicopters for life saving and environment protection.”

Sasemar’s AW139s will be used for a range of roles, which vary from search and rescue to water pollution detection. Both aircraft are equipped with a dual rescue hoist, forward looking infrared camera, search/weather radar, emergency flotation system, and a four-axis autopilot complete with SAR modes.

The AW139 has arguably become the benchmark for medium twin helicopters, and orders for more than 300 of them have been placed by nearly 90 commercial and government customers from over 30

countries. Roles include search and rescue, emergency medical services, offshore transport, corporate travel,

law enforcement, homeland security and military utility transport.

Safety fears ground UAVPolice in Scotland have

abandoned tests on a new unmanned airborne vehicle (UAV) designed to help search for missing people, after the device crash landed. Authorities in Strathclyde had agreed to trial the UAV, which can relay camera images

to a computer on the ground, in rural Argyll; it was hoped the vehicle would prove invaluable in search and rescue missions in the mountainous coastal area.

The issue was highlighted when, during a nine-hour search for two hill climbers, the aircraft failed to

appear. Inspector Neil Wallace then confirmed that the tests had been stopped because the prototype device was ‘not reliable’. “It’s not working well,” he admitted, “we still have the prototype, but it isn’t reliable enough. We are still interested in it, what we are waiting for is the full-

blown item.” He added that the craft could cause serious damage were it to land on people. There needs to be an improvement on what is currently available, he said, in order for the police to carry out more tests and decide whether or not to adopt the device.

RAF/Matt ClarkThe Prime Minister with Vodafone Lifesavers Awards winners

One of two AW139s delivered to Sasemar, the Spanish Marine Safety Agency AgustaWestand

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Vought Aircraft Industries, Inc. has announced that it

has signed a five-year contract with Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. to manufacture cabin structures for UH-60L, UH-60M and MH-60S variants of Black Hawk helicopters. The estimated contract value is approximately $600 million for deliveries that will continue until 2012.

Dennis Orzel, vice-president

of manufacturing operations for Vought, commented: “We are extremely proud to support Sikorsky and the armed services by building airframe structure for this great helicopter. With more than 450 Vought people working on the Black Hawk programme, this contract is vitally important to our Dallas workforce.” The multi-year contract is the second between Vought and Sikorsky.

New Black Hawk UH-60M unveiledThe latest version of the Hawk features upgraded digital technology, allowing pilots to fly faster and safer in mission critical conditions, reports Steve Goodman

The US Army has recently revealed the UH-60M,

designed to replace its 25-year-old predecessor, the UH-60L. Chief Warrant Officer Gene McNeill, who is coordinating testing and training on the M model, said: “The Mike model will do everything the Lima will do – but the M will do it so much better.”

Digital avionics have improved navigation. The UH-60M features GPS and INS technologies that offer extremely precise navigation, allowing increased situational awareness on the battlefield. Digital mapping allows pilots to know exactly where they are in relationship to the ground at all times.

Additionally, M pilots will be able

to download all flight information from a base computer to a PCMCIA card. The card can then be inserted into a slot for integration into the Black Hawk’s computer system – a pilot can literally walk out to the aircraft with a flight plan, all mission data, intelligence, frequencies, and waypoints, and dump it right there into the aircraft’s flight management system, a feature not present in the L model.

Other advantages of the M over the L include a classified ‘threat invisibility’ system. This allows pilots to keep the aircraft masked below terrain at standoff distances in threat engagement zones. In addition, an onboard Integrated Vehicle Health Management System (IVHMS) has been added that constantly collects information crucial to the Black Hawk’s health.

Outwardly the look of the UH-60M does not differ much from the L Model. It does have what are called anhedral blades,

which generate more lift and hover capability. The engines on the M can deliver 2,000 shaft HP as opposed to the L’s 1,900, yet the M is lighter. Pilot and crew safety and crash survivability has also been improved with advanced seating

technologies.CWO McNeill says L-model

pilots will find the transition to the M to be smooth and easy and that it should only take about 15 hours of flight time to get up to speed on the improvements.

Spain orders two CN-235sEADS announced

in December that the Spanish Interior Ministry has placed an order for two EADS CASA CN-235s, in Maritime Patrol version. The planes will be the first

fixed-wing aircraft to be operated by the Servicio Aéreo de la Guardia Civil, which currently has a fleet of helicopters. One will be based in the south of Spain and the other in the Canary Islands, though both will have a mixed role including maritime search and rescue, border patrol, and missions against drug trafficking and illegal immigration.

The first aircraft is expected to be delivered in mid 2008, followed by the second in spring 2009. The planes will feature FLIR (Forward Look Infrared), and FITS (Fully Integrated Tactical System), developed by EADS CASA, which the company says makes these aircraft ‘a very effective tool for the purpose’.

Vought signs Sikorsky contract

SikorskyThe new M model Black Hawk features advanced avionics and anhedral blades

EADSOne of Spain’s new maritime patrol CASA CN-235s

Siko

rsky

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Parachute rescue in frozen OntarioIf a plane goes down in sub-zero temperatures in remote woodland in Ontario, you need the range and speed of a Hercules to find the crash site, with SAR Techs to parachute down to treat the injured, writes 17 Wing’s 2nd Lieut. Travis Smyth

During the early morning of 30 November 2007, a small

Aero Commander aircraft with three people on board departed from Dryden en route to Geraldton, Ontario. At approximately 160 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ontario, the aircraft suffered the failure of both engines and was forced to perform an emergency landing – initially through a condensed tree line, where the aircraft eventually ‘pancaked’ into a semi-frozen marsh.

Upon receiving validation of an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) signal from the downed aircraft, a CC-130 Hercules search and rescue (SAR) crew was dispatched from 435 Transport and Rescue Squadon, based at 17 Wing Winnipeg, Manitoba, at approximately 11:00 a.m.

The SAR crew consisted of Capt’s Jay Steele (Aircraft Commander), Tom Kolesnik (1st Officer), Keith Miller (Navigator), Sgt Richard Spragg (Flight Engineer), Master Cpl Erik Dietz (Load Master), and Search and Rescue Technicians (SAR Techs) Sgt Bill Clouter and Master Cpl Christopher Lamothe.

Approximately one hour and ten minutes after take-off, the Hercules had positioned itself overhead of the ELT signal and initiated a search pattern. On the very first pass, Master Cpl Lamothe spotted the downed aircraft from his left-side observation seat. Preparations were then made for the two SAR Techs to parachute down to the wreckage. Outside temperatures exceeded -20ºC.

With over 100 pounds of survival and medical gear each, the two SAR Techs approach the deployed rear ramp. As the Hercules repositioned itself overtop of the wreckage at approximately 2,500 feet above ground level, the SAR Techs initiated their jump.

Once on the ground, the SAR Techs located three survivors near the wreckage. Two men had suffered minor injuries, and the third, the pilot, had suffered a broken femur. All were exhibiting initial signs of h y p o t h e r m i a . While the survivors were being attended to, further medical and survival equipment was air dropped to the

site by the Hercules crew, which remained on scene throughout the evening to provide support.

The SAR Techs were required to drag the injured pilot with an airdropped toboggan approximately

300 metres from the crash site to a suitable landing zone for recovery. As the area was marshland and partially frozen, the move took more than 20 minutes and the SAR Techs were often breaking through the ice into knee-deep freezing water, which made progress very slow. By this time it was dark and the temperature had dipped to -30ºC, freezing their medications and drinking water.

The two survivors who suffered minor injuries were airlifted to Armstrong by an Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources helicopter, which then returned to the crash scene to retrieve the critically injured patient and SAR Techs.

The Hercules crew lit the way

by dropping flares to aid in the helicopter’s transit from Armstrong to the crash site, approximately 50 kilometres, and return.

All survivors and the two SAR Techs were then airlifted to Thunder Bay, Ontario, by an air ambulance.

“Incidents like this illustrate the importance of a high-speed, fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft like the Hercules,” said 435 Transport and Rescue Squadron Commanding Officer Lt-Col Sean Friday. “We were able to quickly respond to the ELT signal and parachute SAR Techs onto the crash scene to save lives.”

435 Transport and Rescue Squadron has assisted 32 people during �4 search and rescue missions in 200�. The squadron, which was awarded the Air Force Association of Canada’s Mynarski Trophy as the top search and rescue squadron in the Air Force, also evacuated �� residents of Tadoule Lake, Manitoba, on 24 July when the town was threatened by out-of-control forest fires. The mission of 435 “Chinthe” Transport and Rescue Squadron is to conduct air mobility and search and rescue operations. 435 Squadron tasks include airlift of freight and passengers, air-to-air refueling of fighter aircraft in Canada and around the world and search and rescue operations within the Trenton Search and Rescue Region from the border with the US to the geographic North Pole.

A radio is dropped to the survivors Canadian Forces

A CC-130 Hercules search and rescue crew of 435 “Chinthe” Transport and Rescue Squadron start their aircraft to rescue the crew of an Aero Commander crashed 100 miles North of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada Canadian Forces

With over 100 pounds of survival and medical gear each, the two SAR Techs approach the

deployed rear ramp

Search and rescue technicians Sgt Bill Clouter and Master Cpl Chris Lamothe parachute from the CC-130 Hercules Canadian Forces

54


Star actors and war heroes visit troopsMovie and television stars

Gary Sinise (Appollo 13) and John Ratzenberger (Cheers) recently met wounded troops being loaded onto an aeromedical evacuation flight at the US Air Force base in Ramstein, Germany. They were joined by Medal of Honor recipients Mike Thornton and Drew Dix on a visit aimed to help boost morale and say ‘thanks for all the great work accomplished by the armed forces’.

Buffalos grounded – Cormorants neededThe Air Force in Canada is having trouble finding enough spare parts for its search and rescue aircraft, as Mandy Aitchison finds out

The Canadian Air Force is reported to have run out of

propellers for its ageing CC-115 Buffalo search and rescue aircraft, and is now cannibalising some planes to keep the others flying. Military planners in Ottowa have, according to the Canadian press, been looking around old aircraft searching for parts and props for the 40-year-old plane, a job that is becoming harder as the aircraft age. One Buffalo was stranded recently for three weeks after it broke down in San Diego. A mere six propellers are now left to cater for a fleet of six twin-engine aircraft, enough to keep just three in the air. A $1.3-billion programme to buy new search and rescue aircraft has yet to receive approval from the Harper government, so the Air Force has said that it plans to keep the Buffalos flying until 2015.

The Defence Department has confirmed that there have been some problems providing the Air Force with enough spare parts for the aircraft. Spokesperson Krista Hannivan said the department is working closely with its main Buffalo maintenance firm, Field Aviation, and is making plans to find parts no longer made by the industry: “Other solutions being

explored include the possibility of re-engineering items or researching alternative items to achieve the same or better level of function and reliability.” She went on to confirm that propellers are being taken off CC-115 aircraft as they undergo routine maintenance so that they may be installed on other Buffalos. The propeller problem, she said, emerged after the firm that had been supplying them was sold, cutting off the supply, but another source has

been found and the department is confident that within five months, ‘all our Buffalo aircraft will have propellers and sufficient spares’.

In October last year, a report obtained by the New Democrats stated that the lack of spare parts was seriously jeopardising the chances of keeping the Buffalos in service until 2015. As a solution, it suggested buying Brazil’s fleet and stripping the planes for parts, although the Department

of Defence has denied it is considering taking such action.

In related news, a Canadian military team has declared that the Air Force needs a fleet of 18 Cormorant rescue helicopters to provide adequate search and rescue capacity. The Air Force currently has 14 of the high-tech aircraft, equalling the number of Labrador helicopters that they replaced. However, ongoing maintenance issues plague the Cormorant, including problems with corrosion, cracking and parts availability, limiting the number available to fly at any given time. However, a Defence Department spokesperson said there was no plan to buy additional Cormorants.

Meanwhile, it now seems likely the CH 148 Cyclone helicopters, designed to fly off the decks of warships and destined to replace Canada’s ageing Sea King fleet, won’t arrive until 2010 or 2011 – two to three years behind schedule.

28 Cyclones were ordered from Sikorsky at a cost of $1.8 billion.

For the past four years, obtaining new search and rescue aircraft has been, on paper at least, a priority for the Forces, but the project is said to have been derailed by demand for equipment for those fighting in Afghanistan. Aerospace industry officials have been told that the programme to purchase new aircraft will be delayed until at least 2010.

USAFActors Gary Sinise and John Ratzenberger visting Airman 1st Class Kenny Holston

A $1.3-billion programme to buy new search and rescue aircraft has yet to receive approval

from the Harper government

55


NATO search for more helicoptersSenior sources in North Atlantic

Treaty Organisation (NATO) headquarters have said that the force is ‘desperately short’ of attack and transport helicopters that are able to support its International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. In recent weeks, the alliance has been examining the options to correct the shortfall.

Proposals being considered range from improved training and logistical support for deployed helicopters, to a commonly funded modernisation of the 20 or so Mil Mi-8 transport helicopters, which could then be used to form a multinational transport pool for Afghanistan-type operations. The helicopter shortage has been called the ‘single biggest operational

problem’ hampering day-to-day operations of the ISAF.

Major General Ton van Loon of the Royal Netherlands Army said: “Without helicopters, operations in Southern Afghanistan are not possible. There is a lack of road infrastructure and a high threat of improvised explosive devices and ambushes by Taliban and other opposing militant forces … It is unacceptable that a soldier dies because a medevac helicopter and its attack helicopter escort are not available.”

A Canadian NATO official told reporters: “We are beseeching, begging, doing everything we can to convince nations to contribute more rotary-wing aviation assets, both transport and attack helicopters.”

Careless skiers cause problemsOfficials in Wyoming, US,

are said to be becoming increasingly frustrated with careless skiers and snowboarders who prompt costly and hazardous rescue efforts by heading into remote areas, despite avalanche warnings.

In early January, one skier in the Jackson Hole Mountain resort triggered a massive avalanche, prompting some 30 other backcountry skiers to abandon their excursions and search for the skier, who was presumed lost in the avalanche. A two-and-a-half-hour search then ensued, which involved the Mountain Resort Ski Patrol and Teton County Search and Rescue. Finally, after two and half hours, the skier who was responsible for the avalanche called rescuers to report no one was hurt or lost, although the skier failed to give their name.

Teton County Commissioner called the action ‘incredibly rude’, while Commissioner Hank Phibbs went a bit further: “Our volunteers put their lives on the line out there in those circumstances. They

train for it and are willing to do it, but the situations into which they are being called are what I have a problem with.” Rescue costs have increased tenfold in eight years, according to local officials, from $15,000 to $160,000. And while the costs have increased, so has the nature of the missions, as skiers and snowboarders alike search for the ultimate rush and try ever more dangerous off-piste activities.

Some county leaders are now

pondering how to force rescued skiers and snowboarders to pay for the cost of the helicopters flights that are needed to rescue them, while still others are musing whether the area needs a European-style insurance scheme to cover rescue costs, or even whether skiing and snowboarding on federal lands in the backcountry should require a permit. All parties, however, are in agreement that there needs to be a public discussion about how

to prevent future careless accidents and false callouts to the emergency services.

Doug Meyer, co-ordinator of the Teton County search and rescue team, said: “Skiers are showing no respect for the mountains and no respect for avalanche conditions.” When Meyer began his search and rescue career in 1992, he expected one event a year, but said he now expects the agency to respond to at least 10 events by the end

of this winter. Included in the cost projection of $160,000 is the $120,000 cost of having a helicopter on call, while hourly flying time costs have leapt from $900 to $1,500 in the past eight years. “We spend that money to keep our rescuers safe,” continued Meyer, “but it is getting more dangerous as we go along. Rescues are moving further and further out and the skiing is becoming more dangerous.” His view on the situation was crystal clear: “The general public needs to know that if we deem it unsafe for us to go out there, we will not be coming. It could be days before conditions allow us to perform a rescue.”

USAF

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InthelineoffireUS Army medevac pilot Major Jeffrey Long has led a varied career in the armed forces, seeing action in several countries. Amy G McGuire caught up with him for Waypoint, and, here, tells some of his fascinating rescue stories

One wheel landingThe weather was clear blue with unlimited

visibility, and although the air was hot and muggy the Bay of Kuwait was calm. I thought we should at least give the mission a try: a 48-year-old navy seaman on the submarine tender USS LY Spear had had a heart attack and was in critical condition with deteriorating vital signs. Although still aboard the navy vessel, there was no way of stabilising him and he needed defi nitive care fast. As a medevac pilot with the 159th Medical Company, I discussed the ad hoc mission with my crew. It was thumbs up all around while mission posture was assumed. Although it wasn’t authorised, we assessed it could be done safely. I recalled a hero of mine, Master Army Aviator Major General Patrick H Brady, who often described helicopter fl ight operations from the point of view of an air ambulance pilot during the Vietnam war, and who took all kinds of gun fi re, unarmed and determined to do his utmost to save lives.

But this was 1990, when the mechanised infantry, armour, and tank units of the Iraqi Republican Guard invaded Kuwait and seized control of that country. The invasion triggered Desert Storm, where I served as the 159th Med Co from September to October in 1991. It was an interesting mission.

The voice on the radio became more and more urgent. We had to get the guy off the vessel. I orbited around the Navy ship a few times and it looked like a fairly stable platform. I compressed the right main strut to stabilise my aircraft, trying to mesh the rocking motion of the boat with my aircraft. The boat rolled, my helicopter pitched. I couldn’t put too much on the fantail and couldn’t disrupt the weight of the boat. I fi nally got to the point where I was quasi hovering with one wheel on the boat. I was able to clear the antennae on the ship, and had to make sure the rotor blade wouldn’t hit anyone. I knew the boat wasn’t large enough to receive my UH60A Black Hawk, but one wheel had to be good enough.

We eventually got the guy safely into the

aircraft and to the hospital in Kuwait City, which was about a 20-minute fl ight. I am pleased to say the guy survived – in fact, I received a Christmas present from him that year. My commander, however, wasn’t so pleased. Because the boat wasn’t large enough to accommodate the Black Hawk, and we had balanced the aircraft on one wheel to load the patient, I was reprimanded. I knew it wasn’t authorised, but my crew and I assessed we could do it without endangering any lives. Although reprimanded by my immediate command, I did receive a letter of commendation from the commanding offi cer of the LY Spear. It’s all a matter of perspective I suppose.

offire

The weather was clear blue with unlimited visibility, and although the air was hot and muggy the Bay of Kuwait was calm. I thought we should at least give the mission a try: a 48-year-old navy seaman on the submarine tender USS LY Spear had had a heart attack and was in critical condition with deteriorating vital signs. Although still aboard the navy vessel, there was no way of stabilising him and he needed defi nitive care fast. As a medevac pilot with the 159th Medical Company, I discussed the ad hoc mission with my crew. It was thumbs up all around while mission posture was assumed. Although it wasn’t authorised, we assessed it could be done safely. I recalled a hero of mine, Master Army Aviator Major General Patrick H Brady, who often described helicopter fl ight operations from the point of view of an air ambulance pilot during the Vietnam war, and who took all kinds of gun fi re, unarmed and

But this was 1990, when the mechanised infantry, armour, and tank units of the Iraqi Republican Guard invaded Kuwait and seized control of that country. The

We eventually got the guy safely into the

am pleased to say the guy survived – in fact, I received a Christmas present from him that year. My commander, however, wasn’t so pleased. Because the boat wasn’t large enough to accommodate the Black Hawk, and we had balanced the aircraft on one wheel to load the patient, I was reprimanded. I knew it wasn’t authorised, but my crew and I assessed we could do it without endangering any lives. Although reprimanded by my immediate command, I did receive a letter of commendation from the commanding offi cer of the LY Spear. It’s all

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Aviation – a dream come trueIn the 1960s, my parents moved to Indiana where my

dad was a machinist who worked on the turbo engines of the Indianapolis 500 race cars. For years, I dreamed of being a race car driver. That was until I learned about astronaut Gus Grissom: Gus was from Indiana like me, and was also raised with several siblings. I also learned the magic of the years prior to the Baby Boom period – it was the golden age of aviation. I became fascinated by the Atlantic fl ight of Lindbergh in 1927, the disappearance of Amelia Earhart in the 1930s, the mystery of the heroic aviator Howard Hughes, and then military aviation.

I began to read every book I could about aviation, but the most powerful information appeared on national television, and it was powerful enough to stop school. I was a fi rst grader at Susan B Leach Elementary School Number 68 in Indianapolis when our country was glued to the television. I was no exception. I remember watching the Apollo moon landings with my family at home when I was supposed to be in school. My dream of racing cars quickly turned into a dream about fl ying.

My dream of earning my pilot’s licence slowly took fl ight when I saw a sign at Mount Comfort Airport that read ‘$5 fl ights’. In the early morning hours, I started to deliver the Indianapolis Star to pay for my licence; and after my fi rst fl ight, I spent every dollar I earned from my paper route on fl ying lessons. At the age of 16, I earned my pilot’s licence in a Cessna 152 and a Piper Tomahawk. The experience was one of

complete freedom. Although my dad wasn’t a pilot, he

served in the US Army between the Korean War and the Vietnam War, so I grew up knowing it was important to serve your country. I began to read more about the Vietnam War and the DUSTOFF* (see page 61) pilots who served in it: through enemy fi re, cloud banks, monsoons, fog, and darkness, these pilots risked everything to reach the wounded. As a young boy, I was amazed by their profound courage. It was a goal of mine to join the organisation and I did so in 1988. I earned my bachelor’s degree in aeronautics in 1986 from Indiana State University and then my masters in business from the University of Phoenix in 2003.

Combat rescueThe military intervention into Somalia in 1992 was

critical and long overdue. The ongoing genocide in the country, though smaller in scope than the Second World War, needed to stop. Competing war lords were constantly intercepting the UN food shipments, leaving thousands of Somalians starving. The planning of the US intervention may have been short-sighted, due to the assumption that we were initially tasked to assist in stabilising the fractured infrastructure, and to ensure food and water reached those in need. Unfortunately, what we believed would be an uncontested peacekeeping mission quickly spiralled into classic low-intensity confl ict peacemaking.

Along the Indian Ocean, northeast of Mogadishu near Kismaayo, is a coastal area of red sand dunes with scattered grass clumps and very heavy rain – Somalia is a predominately desert region and has frequent dust storms and two monsoon seasons. I was deployed there in December of 1992 and served my mission through both seasons until my departure in July of 1993. One day, we got a call to evacuate three casualties from the fi refi ght that were urgent litter patients and required immediate evacuation due to severity of their injuries.

We took off to retrieve the injured from a Soviet-built airstrip in the southern part of Somalia in Bale Dogle,

which is about 60 miles west of Mogadishu and is Somalia’s largest military airfi eld. At the time, we were getting hit from both sides by the Ethiopian weapon system of choice in Somalia, which was called a ‘technical vehicle’ and consisted of a pick-up truck, a crew, and an automatic machine gun. It was three o’clock in the morning and the monsoon was also gathering

route on fl ying lessons. At the age of 16, I earned my pilot’s licence in a Cessna 152 and a Piper Tomahawk. The experience was one of


served in the US Army between the Korean War and the Vietnam War, so I grew up knowing it was

which is about 60 miles west of Mogadishu and is Somalia’s largest military airfi eld. At the time, we were getting hit from both sides by the Ethiopian weapon system of choice in Somalia, which was called a ‘technical vehicle’ and consisted of a pick-up truck, a crew, and an automatic machine gun. It was three o’clock in the morning and the monsoon

and the Vietnam War, so I grew up knowing it was important to serve your country. I began to read more about the Vietnam War and the DUSTOFF* (see page 61) pilots who served in it: through enemy fi re, cloud banks, monsoons, fog, and darkness, these pilots risked everything to reach the wounded. As a young boy, I was amazed by their profound courage. It was a goal of mine to join the organisation and I did so in 1988. I earned my bachelor’s degree in aeronautics in 1986 from Indiana State University and then my masters in business from

was also gathering


served in the US Army between the Korean War and the Vietnam War, so I grew up knowing it was

was also gathering

Getting some R and R, US Army style Black Hawk turned sky crane: removing pipework to clear a water well

Getting some R and R, US Army style

I couldn’t put too much on the fantail and couldn’t disrupt the weight of the boat.

I fi nally got to the point where I was quasi hovering with one wheel

on the boat

feature5�


dust in a bad way, limiting my visibility and creating an even greater challenge.

The most common feeling is one of extreme concentration due to fear of failure. If you don’t do your job, people may end up dying because you were not effi cient.

While fl ying in Somalia, we commonly wore night vision goggles, which I always enjoyed due to the surreal experience of fl ying a six-million-dollar aircraft just off the deck on the darkest nights in the worst conditions. Your degree of view is limited due to the design of the tubes for each eye with the goggles. Since the amplifi ed light is a monochromatic green, it is a very cool experience. That, of course, went away quickly when the rounds started coming at us.

During the fi ve-hour fl ight, we experienced an even greater challenge. Between the pot shots on the ground and the foggy weather, the dust storms gave way to a one-thousand-foot monsoon wave of red sand. I’d never seen anything like it in my life; I felt like I was fl ying under a blanket. I was 100 feet above the ground and our mission was the only aircraft to attempt fl ying. The moon was illuminating the fog, the blanket of red dust, and the green light amplifying from my goggles created this dreamlike state. Though we were in combat, we were being engaged. We fi nally found a safe place to land so we could load the wounded to get defi nitive care in Mogadishu.

We started back, and the weather continued to deteriorate. As we kept getting lower, it became easier for the enemy to target us, and I had fi nally had enough. I knew the cloud cover was no more than a few thousand feet thick, so I told my crew we were going to go ‘on top’ and no one objected. We punched above the clouds around 4,500 feet and witnessed a beautiful sunrise during our fl ight to Mogadishu. In the end, we had fl own

more than fi ve hours in bad weather with intense enemy engagement – the ultimate outcome was the successful evacuation of three soldiers. Although our night was intense, I can’t help but think of the bravery exhibited by the infantry soldiers. Though I have fl own in three confl icts, I believe the ground soldier is the least appreciated, and yet bravest element of our forces. I will always be in their debt.

A job well doneIn early 1993, the 159th Medical Company had already

been in Somalia for several weeks, and I was happy to take a couple of Black Hawks from Mogadishu to the southern port city of Kismaayou, near the Kenyan border. Upon arrival, we realised that the area, though rather tropical, had a dire need for potable water, since the desalinisation plant was rendered useless by villagers seeking building material for their small homes.

We communicated to headquarters in Mogadishu about our need for more water, but didn’t know when the next shipment would be. A Somalian interpreter told me there was a water well about 70 kilometres to the west in an abandoned Chinese rice factory, but the pump had been broken for many years. I asked if he could guide me there if we fl ew to the location. As we jumped the helicopter, many of my military colleagues asked if what I was doing was (a) wise, and (b) if this was a valid mission for a medevac crew. I told them that in less than two

coming at us.

more than fi ve hours in bad weather with intense enemy engagement – the ultimate outcome was the successful evacuation of three soldiers. Although our night was intense, I can’t help but think of the bravery exhibited by the infantry soldiers. Though I have fl own in

bravest element of our forces. I will always be in

(middle) Pilot CW2 Jerry Fryer(second right) Major Long in Ballad, Iraq, aft er night fl ying in Baghdad

I always enjoyed the surreal experience of fl ying a six-million-dollar aircraft just off the deck on the darkest nights in the

worst conditions

feature 5�


days we would be suffering from dehydration so it was a medical pre-emptive/preventive mission. It only took us a few minutes to fi nd the abandoned rice factory and spot the well. We confi rmed the interpreter’s information about a disabled well, but it appeared to be very deep and possibly a good source of water.

Back at base in Kismaayou, I relayed our recon to the infantry commander. Since they were searching for a western patrol base, he agreed to send a recon team to fi x the pump. I fl ew there again the next day with a water specialist to determine the viability of the water. Unfortunately, as we approached the well, we noticed the frustrated soldiers who were attempting to resurrect the old Soviet pump – it wasn’t operable because it had been shot out by a weapon. Our medic stated that he was familiar with old pumps and said you could actually pull the entire

pump and, pipe out of the

ground with an A-frame winch. We didn’t have a winch, but we did have a helicopter with a cargo hook! We quickly tried to free the pump from its housing and confi rmed that the pipe was still fi rmly attached to the pump. We secured several cargo straps to the pump as we jumped in our Black Hawk.

We were able to radio the infantry who guided us over the pump. We were concerned about the trees in the area, but our rotor wash blew the treetops over, which allowed us to manoeuver the cargo straps on our hook. As we increased our hover height, the pump and the attached pipe slowly began to rise out of the ground. The infantry guided us straight up, since we didn’t want to break the pipe while still in the well. As we approached 200 feet, we received word that the pipe was cleanly out of the ground. The water specialist determined that the water was not only potable, but actually of excellent quality and very cold since it was 135 feet down. In the end, the infantry secured a pump and fl ex hoses from a ROPU unit, and the rice factory was now a primary source of water and a base of operations. Not a bad day for a medevac crew and some American ingenuity in a war zone!

Mission decisionsIt was night-time and too foggy to fl y, so we were

driving a van with our helmets and goggles on pretending to fl y – it’s hard to keep a good pilot down. It was 1993, and I had just returned from Somalia, when I was deployed to Wiesbaden, Germany, serving as the Flight Platoon Leader of the 159th Medical Company.

We got a call on the radio about a patient at the Hoenfels Troop Medical Clinic with a broken toe who might need to be airlifted to Regensburg Hospital near the Bavarian region of Germany. When we arrived at the emergency room, the Army medic specialist was very stern in her opinion that the patient did not need to be

airlifted. I said he did. She said he didn’t. I said he did. The playful arguing went back and forth, and

it started to feel like love. The weather still wasn’t high enough to fl y so we offered to follow the ambulance in our van and drive the patient to Regensburg. Theresa was an Army medic specialist assigned to the 557th Ground Ambulance Company in Wiesdabaden. We were both on temporary duty at Hoenfels by coincidence – or possibly something more powerful I realise now. Theresa and I were married in 1997 and moved to Texas in 2000. She is now a second lieutenant and fourth-year medical student at UT Houston with plans to graduate this May. I plan to teach her how to fl y since I am also a fl ight instructor. I am so grateful that guy broke his toe.

a cargo hook! We quickly tried to free the pump from its housing and confi rmed that the pipe was still fi rmly attached to the pump. We secured several cargo straps to the pump as we jumped in our Black Hawk.

been shot out by a weapon. Our medic stated that he was familiar with old pumps and said you could actually pull the entire

pump and, pipe out of the

ground with an A-frame winch. We didn’t have a winch, but we did have a helicopter with a cargo hook! We quickly tried to

source of water and a base of operations. Not a bad day for a medevac crew and some American ingenuity in a war zone!

Mission decisionsIt was night-time and too foggy to fl y, so we were

driving a van with our helmets and goggles on pretending to fl y – it’s hard to keep a good pilot down. It was 1993, and I had just returned from Somalia, when I was deployed to Wiesbaden, Germany, serving as the Flight Platoon Leader of the 159th Medical Company.

We got a call on the radio about a patient at the Hoenfels Troop Medical Clinic with a broken toe who might need to be airlifted to Regensburg Hospital near the Bavarian region of Germany. When we arrived at the emergency room, the Army medic

airlifted. I said he did. She said he didn’t. I said he did. The playful arguing went back and forth, and

it started to feel like love. The weather still wasn’t high enough to fl y so we offered to follow the ambulance in our van and drive the patient to Regensburg. Theresa was an Army medic specialist assigned to the 557th Ground Ambulance Company in Wiesdabaden. We were both on temporary duty at Hoenfels by coincidence – or possibly something more powerful I

winch. We didn’t have a winch, but we did have a helicopter with a cargo hook! We quickly tried to

Major Long with wife 2nd Lieut Teresa Long prior to deployment in Iraq

Major Jeffrey Long is currently serving as a Brigade Medical Operations Offi cer for the 36th

Combat Aviation Brigade in Austin Texas where he wears his ‘civilian hat’ as an engineering

manager for Applied Materials. Major Long also served in Iraqi Freedom in Balad, where

he served as an air plans and medical operations offi cer in command from August 2006 to

August 2007. Major Long has earned numerous United States decorations and badges during

his military career, including the Bronze Star Medal and Combat Action Badge.

Photos by Jeff rey Long

* The DUSTOFF Association is a nonprofi t incorporated veterans’ organisation for Army Medical Department enlisted and offi cer personnel, aviation crewmembers, and others who are (or ever were) engaged in (or actively supported in any capacity) Army aeromedical evacuation programs in war or peace.

MAINTENANCE�0


Airworthiness directives releasedThe US Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA) has issued an Airworthiness Directive (AD) for Eurocopter France Model AS 355 and AS 355N helicopters, which has followed a report of yaw control restricted travel in operation after the replacement of the load compensator. If not corrected, states the AD, this condition could lead to loss of control of the helicopter, thus actions are required to address the unsafe condition.

The AD follows swiftly in the footsteps of an investigation that revealed that the load compensator was incorrectly

referenced in the Illustrated Parts Catalogue. It directs that that an inspection should be carried out to identify the load compensator lever and the hydraulic actuator assembly installed on helicopters in order to verify their compatibility and replacement of improper parts where an incompatibility is found. The FAA has estimated that the AD will affect around 36 products of US registry, and says it will take

about 25 minutes to inspect the helicopter and 10 work hours

to replace a load compensator lever if necessary.

In more bad news for Eurocopter, another AD has been issued about its Model SA332C, L, L1 and L2 helicopters following the failure of an attachment bolt securing the main rotor RH servo-

control to the non-rotating swash plate. In flight, failure

of the servo-control/swash plate attachment leads to a

catastrophic situation.

Support facility opens in CaliforniaAmerican Eurocopter has

celebrated the opening of its new West Coast Regional Support Facility in Long Beach, California. Following a dedication ceremony, Ivor Shier, president of corporate helicopters, and Deann Shier, CEO, signed a contract for an AS350BA to B2 conversion – the first for the new building. The opening of the West Coast Support Facility is said to be part of the American Eurocopter’s overall strategy to bring its maintenance and repair capabilities closer to its customers in order to improve customer support.

Marc Pananini, president and CEO of the company, said that: “As [a] leading helicopter manufacturer we should also set the standard for customer support and customer satisfaction. We are fully committed to providing the best support in

the industry, and I feel that to accomplish this we must bring our aftermarket parts and services close to our customers so we can decrease the turnaround time for their orders.” Long Beach was chosen as a location, he added, due to its proximity to the company’s extended customer base on the West Coast – there are more than 200 Eurocopter aircraft in the air in various roles around the region.

American Eurocopter plans to provide maintenance and repair services at the new facility, which will house a significant inventory of spare parts, including dynamic components available for sale and/or exchange. It is hoped that the large inventory will allow shorter turn around times for customers in need of parts of service. A fully trained team of technicians are

on hand to perform inspections, as well as to provide support for off-site customers if needed.

Training programmes for pilots and mechanics are also available on request.

MAS supports Princely aims

Following the sale of BO-105 G-PASG by Medical Aviation

Service (MAS) to Princely Jets of

Pakistan last December, MAS has entered into a support a agreement to assist in the start-up of the Princely Air Ambulance service. Princely will be the country’s first ever privately operated air ambulance operation

that has been designed to provide a HEMS service under contract to certain corporations in the region.

Under the terms of the agreement, MAS, which is part of the Specialist Aviation Services Group, is to provide maintenance, technical support and type conversion training.

The training is being carried out in the UK on the aircraft before it is then being exported and put to work in Pakistan in the coming weeks and months. So far, two of

the six pilots that need conversion training have successfully completed the course. In addition, MAS is hosting representatives from the Pakistani Civil Aviation Authority, so that they can endorse the European Aviation Safety Agency-based training course and to allow the aircraft to be registered and operated in Pakistan.

Airliners.net

MAINTENANCE �1


Heli-Mart announces major expansionSteve Goodman reports on Heli-Mart’s acquisition of Phoenix Heliparts

Heli-Mart, a major supplier of OEM parts to the

medical helicopter industry in the US, recently announced that it will acquire a majority stake in Phoenix Heliparts based in Mesa,

Arizona. The acquisition will significantly expand Heli-Mart’s operation capability and will allow the newly formed company to offer air medical operators a complete solution for parts and maintenance.

Heli-Mart is known for stocking a large inventory of OEM parts, and Phoenix Heliparts has years of

experience as a medical helicopter support provider. Heli-Mart president Don Nichols says that air medical operators will be able to touchdown at the Phoenix Heliparts’ head quarters and find a single point-person who will be able to meet their maintenance or repair needs, from cradle to grave. With its other subsidiary,

California Aero Components, and by adding the resources of Heliparts to its team, Heli-mart now offers a ‘one-stop shop’ for helicopter reconstruction and refurbishment, overhauls of components and repairs, total helicopter maintenance, and all completion work, including interiors and avionics.

FAA issues ice advice for pilotsThe US Federal Aviation

Authority (FAA) has issued a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) giving pilots and operators recommendations for rotorcraft during icy or snowy conditions. The bulletin was prompted by the continued incidence of accidents due to loss of engine power resulting from snow or ice being taken into turboshaft powered helicopters. It said: “The accumulation of ice and snow can occur in the area of the airframe engine inlet while the rotorcraft is on the ground or in the air.” The SAIB then goes on to describe actions and procedures that can be taken to reduce the probability of engine in-flight shutdown due to ice or snow ingestion.

While on the ground with the engines operating at a lower power setting, ice and snow can accumulate on the airframe cowl forward of the inlet, on the inlet lip and inside the inlet. Under extreme conditions, the buildup of ice and snow can be enough to cause the engines to lose power or fail completely if it is ingested. On the ground with the engine not operating, proper use of inlet inserts (pillows) or inlet covers can eliminate the accumulation of snow, but these measures cannot fully guarantee non-formation of ice in the inlet. Ice can also develop in the inlet area when water seeps into the inlet from rain falling or snow melting on a warm cowl.

In-flight, meanwhile, some rotorcraft require a new protection kit for the airframe engine inlet in order to successfully operate in snowy conditions. Operation in

snow without the kit is prohibited and can be especially risky when hovering in snow and then transitioning to take-off when weather conditions improve. Snow

may accumulate on or in the engine inlet area while hovering and then be dislodged and ingested into the inlet during takeoff. Pilots, said the bulletin, should not believe

they have escaped the danger following a successful hover in the snow with an unprotected inlet. It recommends that pilots land the aircraft immediately after the hover and thoroughly inspect the engine inlet prior to takeoff. If terrain will not allow an immediate safe landing, pilots are instructed to transition to take-off as smoothly as possible when the weather clears, with minimum application of engine power. They must then land and inspect the areas as soon as is practical.

Other recommendations to pilots include reviewing the aircraft flight manual for limitations and operations guidance in snow and ice; pilots should also perform basic airmanship and preflight by evaluating current and predicted weather briefings from the area’s flight service station. When the aircraft is on the ground without engines operating, pilots should install inlet and exhaust inserts or covers, and prior to engine start, having removed the covers, a complete inspection of the inlet and exhaust area should be carried out, including checking the surfaces inside the inlet and the area behind the particle separator or screen. A stern warning, though, is in place: Do not, under any circumstances, remove the ice and snow by chipping or scraping. Instead, use heated air or deicing fluid as appropriate, in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. In freezing temperatures, pay particular attention to sheet ice on the bottom and forward of the inlet as ice can also form below particle separators.

biggles gigglesbiggles giggles�2 biggles giggles


It’s a serious business, but every now and then an operation exposes the funny bone… Ian Lewis has a chuckle

Toxicmoovements

Fumes on a school coach in December were the cause of dramatic activity by rescue services in the Midlands, UK, on two occasions on the same day. The fi rst incident involved police, two paramedic rapid response vehicles, and three ambulances. Five children were taken to hospital.

An hour later, another group of children on the same coach complained of feeling ill. The coach stopped immediately, and emergency services and the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance were called. This time, ten children were taken to hospital.

The source of the noxious fumes? Cow dung. The fumes made people feel ill but were no threat to health. The coach’s owner reckons that the vehicle exhaust must have acquired a delicate layer of manure while turning round in a farmyard or a country lane, and it was the aroma of engine-warmed dung that caused the drama.

ArmchairflyersWinvian is a resort deep in the

hills of Connecticut where the owners offer a series of unique

accommodation experiences. Prices start at $1450 a night.

The resort consists of a number of different (very different) cottages – the Golf Cottage has uneven green fl oors with holes in it; the fantasy Medieval Cottage includes a chunk of a real granite Stonehenge. And

(and we know our readers will be ditching all other holiday plans) a Helicopter Cottage, housing, according to the brochure, a 1968 HH37 US Coast Guard Sea King Pelican, complete and all but fl yable. And a whole bit more comfortable than when it rescued Tom Cruise from Top Gun.

RecyclicOK, you’ve always wanted

your own helicopter, but you can’t afford to buy one. Well, follow the example of Mubarak Muhammed Abdullah, a student of physics at Kano University in the north of Nigeria.

He has built himself a gloriously yellow four-seater

to his own design – and all in his backyard. He saved up the money he makes from repairing mobile phones to buy scrap aluminium; borrowing bits from scrapped

cars and motorbikes. The seats are courtesy of Toyota, the aircraft is powered by a Honda Civic engine, and most of the rest comes from a 747 that crashed in the neighbourhood a few years ago.

You’re thinking this is a toy – a grownup climbing frame – but, no, it

really fl ies, and he keeps it parked in the grounds of the university.

So we’ll hear no more of your excuses…

SwingersA New Zealand tree surgeon

broke his leg in an accident which left him hanging halfway up (or down) a 130-foot tree. Try as they might, police, fi re, ambulance, and all the King’s Men could do nothing to rescue him from the ground, so an air ambulance was called.

It was a windy day in a confi ned space, but a paramedic was winched

down to the tree surgeon with no problems. The injured man’s safety lines were released, and the upward journey began.

You can guess what happened next. Once they were clear of the fi rst tree, the high winds took over, and the poor dangling guy swung – a

reluctant Tarzan – into a second tree, suffering further cuts and bruises. More blue patches for him, and red faces for the helicopter guys.

Sharks1,fishermen0A fi sherman thought his luck was in

when he landed a three-metre-long mako shark off Australia’s northeast coast. His luck ended when he accidentally stepped on the fi nned fi end, which promptly sunk its teeth into his leg. The rescue crew only succeeded in releasing the shark’s grip after cutting off its head. The man was airlifted to hospital where his condition was stabilised.

MoreswingersAnd fi nally…

On the day his wife walked out on him, Tadeusz Konopizc, of Zakopane, Poland, drank a bottle of vodka and, in a fi t of rage, and misery, cut off his genitals with a 15 centimetre kitchen knife.

He found this sobered him up quite quickly, and called the emergency services, who immediately sent for the air ambulance to transport him to a specialised clinic in Bielostok. Unfortunately the helicopter was delayed by fog. By the time Tadeusz reached the hospital, it was too late to reattach his severed bits.

And the moral is – always look at the weather forecast before doing anything involving aviation.

If you have a story to tell, please send it to:

[email protected]

NEWS �3NEWSNEWS


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Helicopter heroes continued from page 9

southwest coast of England, the freighter Horncliff , ran into diffi culties with 31 people onboard. Speaking before a rescue was

attempted, a spokesperson said: “Winds are north westerly gale to severe gale force, with very big seas, so the operation will be

extremely diffi cult.” However, a coastguard helicopter succeeded in airlifting the captain to hospital for treatment for spinal injuries and suspected internal bleeding; six others were also taken off the ship. Th e captain was one of three people injured onboard when the ship encountered rough weather and lost 60 containers from the deck.

Further north, the Spanish crew of a trawler that was driven aground in gale force winds and high seas on the island of St Kilda, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, had to be winched to safety by a Stornoway Coastguard helicopter. Pilot Liz Forsyth said: “Th e winchman did a fantastic job. He was having to hold on to the deck with waves crashing over his head.”

All 14 crew were safely taken to Stornoway. Four were taken straight to hospital suff ering from mild hypothermia. A second helicopter, an RAF Sea King, was also alerted and put on standby to assist in the rescue operation.

Just before the high winds aff ected the three ships above, a Greek-registered freighter carrying fuel oil and timber got into diffi culties off Dorset, on the south coast of England, forcing an airlift of the crew before it sank. More than 2,000 tons of wood was on deck, the majority of which was washed into the water as the ship went down amid heavy seas. Th e Coastguard said it is prepared to deal with any after-eff ects from any spillage.Th e Riverdance ferry stricken off Blackpool , 14 passengers and crew were winched to safety RAF

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