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The deal will give Skyportz subsidiary Wilbur Air, which will use the Skyportz vertiport network, access to small cargo helicopters that will fly freight between businesses on fixed routes with flight plans rather than autonomously selecting their own routes.
The Agusta A109, VH-RUA, was landing on bulk carrier Tai Keystone on 6 December 2023 when the pilot heard a “shredding noise” and an increase in engine pitch before conducting an emergency shutdown. In its final report, the ATSB said the tail rotor hit a handrail unseen by the pilot.
The helicopter, VH-DLD, crashed near Gorrie Station south of Katherine on 7 December, having left nearby Bloodwood Station at around 7:30pm. The ATSB believes the pilot lost visuals after flying into bushfire smoke. Search parties found the wreckage two days later, with the pilot fatally injured.
The extension, valued at more than $370 million, will come into effect from 1 January 2026, and will see Babcock continue to supply Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) for AV until 2030. AV’s HEMS responded to 2,197 incidents last year, with an average of almost 200 cases each month.
The Queensland-based aeromedical organisation is expanding its AW139 fleet to 16, with three other rotary and four fixed-wing aircraft also in its stable. The AW139s will be used to provide emergency medical services as well as search and rescue response missions.
The crash of VH-XWD on 31 March 2022, which killed all five people on board and was labelled “among the worst in Victoria’s history”, was a result of the pilot inadvertently flying into weather conditions that required instruments despite operating under visual flight rules (VFR).
