LifeFlight turns to AW139 for versatile reliability

Leonardo has now sold around 1,300 AW139s globally, with close to 5 million flight hours worldwide. According to Daniele Alzetta, Leonardo Helicopters’ VP of sales for Asia-Pacific, more than 75 per cent of AW139s in Australia are used for EMS and search-and-rescue applications.

“Especially due to the geographical circumstances here in Australia, at the end of the day, it’s all about payload and range. So, giving the possibility to carry a lot of people or equipment on board, but also having the possibility to fly very long, to stretch out the reach to a greater distance, while maintaining safety at all levels,” he told Australian Aviation at Rotortech.

“The fact that the performance of the helicopter is giving the confidence to the pilot to really stretch the limits and to exploit the performance of the aircraft to the fullest, it makes the difference in a country like Australia, where we need to overcome long distances and act in very harsh environments at times – floods, hurricanes and the sort of natural disasters where there are very strong wind conditions, or where you have to hover and rescue people on top of roofs of houses in case of floods. In those cases, that safety, the confidence that the crew has in an operating machine, really makes a difference and makes a difference in the field.”

At the event, LifeFlight showed off a Queensland Health medically-configured AW139 for patient transfers, with the organisation also operating special mission helicopters equipped with FLIR Star SAFIRE 380HD thermal imaging, dual Goodrich 600lb rescue hoists, Trakkabeam A800 high-intensity searchlight, removable 20-inch HD tactical mission console and NVIS-compatible cockpit and cabin for night operations.

The platform’s performance and adaptability is appreciated by the operators on the coalface, according to LifeFlight’s deputy chief crewman Todd Seymour, who highlighted its performance across natural disaster zones such as the recent Lismore and Broken Hill floods.

“Practically, the AW 139 is one of the best platforms, as an operator, that you can work on,” he said. “The ability and versatility of the 139 to go from into a hospital transfer machine to a land-based rescue machine into a water-based rescue machine is second to none. It makes our job as the guys on the front line a lot easier when you’ve got a machine that is capable of all these sorts of different scenarios that our crews face day to day.

“[There’s always] the unknown of what tasking you’re going to be called upon each and every day, but knowing you’ve got a reliable platform that can do everything that you need, makes that vulnerability, I guess, for the crew, a lot easier to handle. We could be doing an inter-hospital transfer one minute, next minute we’re 100 miles off the coast. So, having an aircraft that we know that is capable of all of those things makes our life a lot easier.”

LifeFlight and Leonardo now have a partnership on the Clive Berghofer Maintenance Centre at Archerfield Airport in Brisbane, which is a Leonardo Authorised Service Centre, and plan to open a new training academy on the Gold Coast by 2028, according to LifeFlight’s head of business development and growth, Shaun Gillott.

“We’ve had a very positive experience working with Leonardo, and the growth of that relationship through the MRO and now the authorised Training Centre shows how strong we view that relationship, that we’re happy to represent Leonardo,” he told Australian Aviation. “We’re proud to be able to represent Leonardo here in Australia and see that relationship continue to grow, and be able to give support to Leonardo’s customers and the industry here in Australia.

“To the other emergency services providers out there, we’ve had a lot of success with Leonardo and the AW139, and we will continue to engage with Leonardo and hopefully grow our fleet as the industry expands. We’re seeing a huge amount of growth within helicopter aviation here in Australia, and particularly within emergency services. So, please reach out if you would like to get in touch with Leonardo or LifeFlight, or if we can partner and support you in any way.”