AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, is pleased to announce that Life Star of Kansas has signed for an AW119Ke helicopter during a ceremony at the Air Medical Transport Conference in San Jose, California. The helicopter will be used for medical transport and will be delivered to the customer in December of this year.
Speaking at the ceremony today, Lou Bartolotta, Executive Vice President Sales for North & South America said, “For over 20 years, Life Star has served the State of Kansas with an outstanding commitment to safe, state of the art air transport. We are pleased to have been selected by Life Star to provide an AW119Ke as the newest addition to their fleet.”
Life Star Executive Director Greg Hildenbrand said, “We selected the AW119Ke because it is the best value, best performance helicopter for our mission. The cornerstone of Life Star’s mission is to provide the highest quality care in a safe manner. This aircraft allows for full-body, patient access and will be equipped with the latest safety technology, including night vision goggles, terrain and nearby aircraft warning systems, satellite tracking, weather and advanced communications. With this new platform, we will continue to fulfill our mission with expanded capability and improved performance.”
The AW119Ke will be based at Freeman Field in Junction City, Kansas. Life Star is a not-for-profit corporation in business since 1988 with bases in Lawrence and Osage City, in addition to its headquarters at Forbes Field in Topeka. It operates under its own Part 135 operating certificate and has been accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS) since 1996.
The AW119Ke is a spacious 8 seat single engine helicopter developed to strengthen safety and provide high productivity and performance at a competitive price. The large unobstructed cabin permits rapid re-configuration for a variety of emergency medical services missions. The high power margins deliver outstanding performance that makes the AW119Ke the most cost effective helicopter in its class. Approximately 190 AW119Kes have been ordered by over 90 customers in almost 30 countries worldwide so far to perform a number of roles also including EMS, offshore transport, law enforcement, VIP/corporate transport, firefighting and utility.
AgustaWestland congratulated North Memorial Air Care on reaching and surpassing a historic milestone when their A109C model helicopter achieved 10,000 flight hours. North Memorial is the first operator in the world to achieve 10,000 flight hours with an A109C helicopter.
Speaking at a ceremony during the Air Medical Transport Conference in San Jose, California on Monday, Lou Bartolotta, Executive Vice-President Sales for North & South America said, “North Memorial has been a wonderful fixture within the U.S. aero-medical landscape for decades. You are among the leaders in this field and deserve tremendous credit for all of the people you have helped. We are proud to have played our part.”
Founded in 1985, North Memorial purchased the A109C model in 1991. Since that time they have flown over 5,000 patients in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. North Memorial’s Air Care unit is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week and operates from five bases.
“We are proud to have reached this milestone. North Memorial has a tradition of remarkable and safe patient care that fundamentally relies on the operational capability and reliability of our helicopters,” said Bob Rishovd, North Memorial Air Care Unit Program Manager.
The A109C model flown by North Memorial is a “gull wing” variant. The latest AgustaWestland light twin range includes today the AW109 Power and the Grand types. The AW109 Power is a cost effective solution for patient care across a wide geographic area. State of the art navigation for an extensive GPS approach system, fully integrated IFR operations and night vision goggles provide the highest levels of safety. The aircraft provides for rapid scene response in tight landing zones and long distance inter-hospital transport. The Grand has set new standards in the light twin market and features the highest cruise speed, full Category A/Class 1 performance and the largest cabin in the light twin class. A wide choice of modular interiors and tailored avionics solutions makes it a suitable platform for a range of roles including corporate/VIP transport, EMS, SAR, offshore transport, patrol and government agency missions.
AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica Company, is pleased to announce the arrival of the custom-built, Ornge-inspired motorcycle created by Orange County Choppers. The custom chopper was on display at AgustaWestland’s booth #331 during the Air Medical Transport Conference in San Jose, California, October 26th through the 28th.
Based in Newburgh, New York, Orange County Choppers is one of the world’s premier builders of custom choppers. Earlier this year, Orange County Choppers partnered with Ornge to create the custom-chopper with the goal of raising awareness to Ornge’s story and mission. With support from AgustaWestland, the project has included a site visit to the Ornge headquarters in Toronto, where Paul Teutul Sr, met with Ornge staff and patients and heard from them directly on how important and vital these services are to the people of Ontario. In addition, Paul Sr. visited the AgustaWestland Philadelphia production facility where he had a first hand look at one of Ornge’s AW139s on the production line. Both visits were intended to inspire the custom bike which will be on display at AMTC this week.
The story of Ornge and the making of this custom chopper form the basis of an upcoming episode of American Choppers which will air on TLC, November 12th at 9pm EST.
Ornge is a not-for-profit, charitable organization that operates from a number of bases across the province of Ontario and performs more than 18,000 admissions annually. It coordinates all aspects of Ontario’s aero medical transport system, the new critical care land transport program, and the authorization of air and land ambulance transfers between hospitals. Ornge is dedicated to the provision of high quality patient care through innovative transport medicine.
In 2008, Ornge signed for twelve AW139 helicopters. The first AW139 is scheduled for delivery in early 2010 and will feature a full aero-medical interior along with a de-icing system for operations in adverse weather.
AgustaWestland is pleased to announce that the Public Security Bureau of Nanning (Southern China) has ordered one AW109 Power light twin engine helicopter. This aircraft will be used to perform a number of roles also including law enforcement and civil protection/disaster relief across the Nanning province.
The AW109 Power has been selected thanks to its outstanding performance, operational capabilities, safety and ease of maintenance following a rigorous and comprehensive evaluation process for the supply of a new helicopter to serve the Nanning community. The Public Security Bureau of Nanning province has a requirement for additional helicopters and the purchase of the AW109 Power is the first step to enhance public security capabilities and operational effectiveness through the acquisition of modern platforms.
This latest contract confirms AgustaWestland products as the civil helicopters of choice for law enforcement and public utility duties in China, and further expands the already relevant presence in this market where the company has found a rapidly growing success with other sales logged for the AW109 Power, but also for the AW119 single engine and the AW139 medium twin models. Nanning Public Security Bureau adds to the Beijing, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Dailian Public Security Bureau, as law enforcement operators in China using AgustaWestland helicopters.
The 8-seat AW109 Power is a highly versatile twin engine helicopter used for a wide range of roles and offers the highest levels of performance with low operating costs. The ability to change the interior configuration provides exceptional versatility to support the different law enforcement roles. With a maximum cruise speed of 154 kts (285 Km/h) and a range of 512 nm (948 km), the AW109 Power offers superior rapid reaction capabilities, surveillance area coverage and in-flight endurance.
The law enforcement-configured AW109 Power has proven itself in service, meeting the stringent demands of police agencies worldwide in terms of performance, safety, reliability and mission effectiveness. Other roles the AW109 Power is widely used for include VIP/corporate transport, harbour pilot shuttle, emergency medical services. Over 470 AW109 Powers have been ordered by customers in almost 50 countries.