The 2006 Air Medical
Transport Conference currently underway in Phoenix, AZ is proving
to be lucrative for American Eurocopter... with the EADS subsidiary
celebrating three sales of its EC135 to customers in
Pennsylvania.
Pittsburgh-based STAT MedEvac -- the largest private provider of
air medical services (AMS) helicopter services in the United States
-– took delivery of one EC135 at the show. Part of a 2005
order for one EC145 and four EC135s, the EC135 is equipped with
"the best in flying technology," says STAT MedEvac COO James
Bothwell.
"This EC135 has single pilot IFR, night vision goggles, and a
ground proximity warning systems," Bothwell said. "In fact, it has
all of the flight safety systems recommended by the FAA and NTSB;
thanks to the increased payload capacity of today’s
EC135."
"They just keep improving the EC135's airframe," Bothwell, a
longtime EC135 customer, added. "I think the reason Eurocopter has
been able to do so much with this aircraft is because there are so
many EC135 airframes in use today. Having built so many of them,
they have gained considerable knowledge of what makes this airframe
work, and what to do to make it even better."
STAT MedEvac's 22 aircraft fleet is entirely comprised of
Eurocopters; 14 of which are EC135s. The rest are EC145s, BK117s,
and AS355s.
American Eurocopter also took the opportunity to announce
Pennsylvania-based Keystone Helicopter Corporation is now flying
two EC135s it acquired from Travis County, TX.
You may think that announcement is somewhat unusual, as the sale
does not represent any new funds for Eurocopter -- until you note
that in addition to being one of the largest and oldest helicopter
services companies in the United States, Keystone is also a
wholly-owned subsidiary of rival helo-maker Sikorsky.
Keystone bought the two EC135s earlier in 2006, after
"evaluating all the rotorcraft that were available on the pre-owned
market," says Rick Hinkle, Keystone's vice president of business
development. "We are in the process of updating our fleet, so we
decided to bring the two EC135s in to see how well they work. To
date, the EC135s are performing their AMS missions extremely well,
at a far lower operating cost than our existing aircraft."
Keystone is using the EC135s for Air Medical Service (AMS)
missions. The company operates a large fleet of turbine
helicopters, which are based at numerous air medical locations in
the eastern USA.
Eurocopters are nothing new to the Keystone fleet, as the
company currently flies a number of them... including ten
BK117s.
"Should the pre-owned EC135s continue their cost-effective ways,
Keystone Helicopter may well acquire some new EC135s in the
future," Hinkle says.
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