Boeing 747-400 Large Cargo Freighter Taking Shape
KUALA LUMPUR, April 18 (Bernama) — Modifications continue on the 747-400s that will transport major components of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Hawaii Air Ambulance Passes Inspection, Put Back in Service
HONOLULU — Hawaii Air Ambulance (HAA) is ready to fly interisland aeromedical missions aboard its own aircraft again as of April 7 after the first of its four planes completed voluntary inspections. Our pilots, medical staff and crews are happy to have a Hawaii Air Ambulance plane in the air again and eager to continue full aeromedical service once all of our planes have completed the voluntary inspections.Hawaii Air Ambulance has provided air ambulatory service to the people of Hawaii for 27 years.
Unlike others who have come and gone, we remain committed to our mission. We consider our work to be a calling to help others. We will continue that work in the memory of those we have recently lost.
On the day after the tragic March 8 crash of an HAA plane on Maui, HAA decided to ground and put its four remaining twin-engine, pressurized, fixed-wing Cessna 414A aircraft through voluntary but extremely extensive inspections to reassure its crews and the public that HAA planes are airworthy. Read the rest of this entry »
Now, medical care takes to the skies!
When you see a wailing ambulance trying to wade its way through peak-hour traffic, have you ever wondered why they don’t employ air ambulances instead? Like they did in that Hollywood movie you saw last week? Well, that Hollywood movie experience might soon turn into reality, right here in India.
TopsGroup which is known for its timely security services in the city, has launched Tops Air Rescue which can be tagged as India’s largest air ambulance service.
“We want to create the equivalent of the 911 services of the United States or the 999 services of the United Kingdom. We started with an emergency service in Mumbai that will reach you in nine minutes flat. What we did successfully on road, now we want to do with the air ambulance service,” TopsGroup chairman and managing director Rahul Diwan Nanda says. The service will connect the country through one network.
“We can pick up an ailing person from anywhere in India and fly him to any hospital in the country. The major differencebetween other services and us is that, we have a team of aviation medical experts. This means the ailing person will be completely taken care of till the time he or she is reached to the hospital,” said Chief Operating Officer Dr Prabhat Jauhari.
But while they reach you on time, these services come at a cost, and can leave you poorer by Rs 75,000 an hour. On an average, a rescue operation may cost around Rs 3 lakh. However, Nanda says that money shouldn’t matter.
“When it is about the life of your dear ones, people never think about the money. Look at it this way - an emergency arises where a spouse needs urgent medical attention.
Normally, you wouldn’t even know who or where to call. But now, all help is just one phone call away,” Nanda said.
There are different aircraft for different situations - from a Cessna Citation II for distances upto 2000 km to Bell helicopters if your destination is not more than 250 km far.
“These aircraft are specially configured to act as a flying intensive care unit. You won’t be able to tell the difference between the interiors of these planes and a hospital room. We have all the facilities, only the equipment will be smaller than the normal ones you see in hospitals,” Jauhari says.
Dramatic land and air rescue of injured teen
The boy, from the Slaidburn area, suffered a broken wrist and cuts and bruises in the accident, but was discharged from hospital the following day. The fact that he was wearing a good cycle helmet undoubtedly saved him from much more serious and possibly fatal injuries.
Paramedics with the North West Air Ambulance were able to treat the casualty at the scene and he was winched to safety by the crew of an RAF Sea King rescue helicopter.
Emergency services were mobilised at 2-37 p.m. on Friday when Lancashire Constabulary received a 999 call about the incident at Whin Fell, near Dunsop Bridge. The 17-year-old boy had been mountain biking with friends and it was initially thought he could have broken several bones in the fall.
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Police officers from the Ribble Valley responded immediately, along with the North West Air Ambulance from Blackpool Airport, which was at the scene in minutes. On arrival paramedics were able to assess the casualty, but due to his position on the steep hillside they were unable to move him.
They requested the assistance of Bowland Pennine Mountain Rescue Team, whose members began to arrive shortly afterwards. They were ferried from Brennand Farm to the top of the fell by the air ambulance and began to set up ropes to secure themselves, the paramedic and the casualty, who was also placed into a fleece casualty bag to exclude hypothermia and strapped into a specialist mountain rescue stretcher.
At this stage it was still thought the boy could have suffered a spinal injury, so to evacuate him in the safest way the mountain rescue team contacted the Aeronautical Rescue Co-ordination Centre at RAF Kinloss, who dispatched Rescue 122, a Sea King helicopter from RAF Valley, in Wales. It took 40 minutes to arrive, during which time the mountain rescue team and air ambulance crew monitored the casualty and prepared him for helicopter evacuation.
On arrival, the RAF helicopter lowered a winchman and stretcher, which the casualty was secured into. He was then winched into the aircraft and flown to Royal Preston Hospital. Thankfully his injuries proved less serious than feared and, after being kept overnight for observations, he was allowed home the following day.
Bowland Pennine Mountain Rescue Team is a registered charity who, working from their HQ near Dunsop Bridge and a newly-acquired vehicle base near Garstang, provide a search and rescue service for lost, missing and injured people in wild and remote places throughout most of Lancashire. All members of the team, which receives no Government fundng, are volunteers on call 24 hours-a-day, 365 days-a-year. They attend about 60 callouts each year and their website can be found at www.bowlandpenninemrt.org.uk.
The North West Air Ambulance is also a registered charity receiving no mainstream funding, yet it costs over £1.3 million a year to maintain this vital life saving service. Donations can be made by ringing 0800 5874570.
Rain-making royal fleet to get three new aircraft
The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives yesterday ordered a revamp of the royal rain-making fleet and procurement of three new planes, estimated to cost about 878 million baht. The move follows a tragic accident on March 29 involving a TC-6 twin-propeller aircraft from the royal rain-making fleet. The TC-6 crashed shortly after leaving its base for a cloud-seeding operation over Chanthaburi’s Tha Mai district. The pilot and all three passengers were killed in the crash.
The ministry, which oversees the Bureau of Royal Rain-making and Agriculture Aviation, then decided to ground the remaining three TC-6s and send the nine other aircraft in the fleet, which are in poor condition, to the repair shop immediately. The ministry also would speed up barter trade talks with Indonesia, which initially agreed to buy Thai rice in exchange for a contract to sell new aircraft to Thailand, said caretaker Agriculture Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan yesterday.
Pilots and specialists would be asked to draft specifications and procurement procedures to ensure the new planes are safe and suitable for the mission, Khunying Sudarat said.
A major overhaul of the fleet’s maintenance system was under way and an extra life insurance scheme would be launched for the benefit of the families of pilots and officials in the fleet, she said .
‘’Nine other defective planes will be fixed urgently, with radar systems procured and installed as suggested by His Majesty the King. The government has already set aside a budget for the mission,'’ said Khunying Sudarat, who chaired yesterday’s meeting of a panel looking into the March 29 plane crash.
She said that an initial investigation found the pilot lost control of the aircraft after its elevator control system, or trim, malfunctioned. At 300 feet above the ground, the plane’s manual control system was not operational.
Pieces from the wreckage of the aircraft had been sent for further analysis by its manufacturer, whose findings are expected within two weeks, she said.
Maserati MC12
