Air Ambulance Operation

[Grahame Hutchison]

A serious motor vehicle yesterday required one of the Ambulance Service Of NSW helicopters to attend the scene. VH-EPK flew very low overhead our office and landed in the sports field across the road. They shutdown while waiting for the patient to be transported, and this gave me an opportunity to photograph the chopper and speak with the pilot.

I asked about the first new Agusta and learnt that it was currently in Adelaide for the medical fitout. The Agusta has a more useful layout in the rear cabin, a glass cockpit, and a bit more lifting capacity than the Bell 412s. The pilot had a few images of the Agusta on his mobile which were good to have a quick look at.

Once the patient was loaded on board, the pilot did a great job of departing, with a fairly gusty wind directly from the port side, and a line of trees very close by to starboard. Lift off and climb out was done very quickly.