On Monday, 7th October, a new helicopter touched down at Magpas Air Ambulance’s airbase in Alconbury Weald, Cambridgeshire.
This new aircraft, an AW109 SP registered as ‘G-MPAS’, replaces the charity’s previous helicopter, which was unable to fly when the service’s aviation provider was suddenly sold in a pre-pack administration deal earlier this year.
Since then, Magpas Air Ambulance has continued to provide lifesaving pre-hospital emergency care to patients 24/7 using its fleet of rapid response vehicles (RRVs), just as it normally would when the helicopter is unavailable due to maintenance or weather, and when it is quicker to reach patients by road. Despite this temporary change, Magpas Air Ambulance's service has remained as busy as ever, with the charity responding to 1,903 patients in the past financial year.
Magpas Air Ambulance CEO, Daryl Brown MBE, explains “After the sudden and unexpected news that we were unable to operate using our previous aircraft, we worked around the clock to find a new helicopter provider, whilst also putting measures in place and working with partners to continue saving lives while we awaited delivery of our new aircraft.
“We look forward to the return of air operations now we have the new Magpas Air Ambulance helicopter at our airbase.
“Magpas Air Ambulance is incredibly grateful to the community for their support of this vital service, allowing us to continue saving lives every day, no matter the circumstances.”
Following a period of training for Magpas Air Ambulance’s doctors and critical care paramedics to familiarise themselves with the new AW109 SP airframe, the charity expects to be operational by air and flying G-MPAS in the skies of Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and beyond later this month.
