American Eurocopter today announced the delivery of its 250th EC135®. The milestone helicopter was recently delivered to Med-Trans Corporation of Dallas.

“It has been a year of milestones for American Eurocopter,” said Marc Paganini, President and CEO of American Eurocopter. “This 250th delivery of an EC135 showcases the popularity of the platform in the United States and how much our market has grown in the last several years.”

The EC135 made its U.S. debut in 1995 at Heli-Expo in Las Vegas, with the first delivery in 1996. The United States is the second largest market for the EC135, and the aircraft has accumulated some impressive delivery numbers.

It has become one of the most popular light twin-engine helicopters in the United States and has accounted for the majority of all light twins delivered into the U.S. civil helicopter market over the last 10 years. Even more extraordinary is the fact that since 2006, the aircraft has accounted for 92 percent of U.S. air medical light twin helicopter deliveries.

The EC135 has established itself as one of the premier helicopters in the U.S. air medical market. Highlighting this, Med-Trans Corporation, an industry leading air medical provider, selected the EC135 as the platform for many of its life-saving air medical programs.

Med-Trans originally purchased eight EC 135s in 2007, citing a thorough evaluation process of several models from several manufacturers before making its final decision. “As our company continues to experience steady growth, we recognized several years ago that the EC135 would meet and exceed many of our partners’ aircraft needs based on their geographic locations, as well as overall mission needs,” said Fred Buttrell, President and CEO of Med-Trans. “Providing aircraft options at good economics is critical for continued partner satisfaction, as well as meeting the needs for patient care.”

This milestone helicopter brings the number of EC135s in Med-Trans’ fleet to 16. The aircraft will be placed into service with the Carilion Clinic Life-Guard air medical program located in Virginia.

Developed to comply with the strictest JAR Part 27 safety standards, the EC135 was designed in close consultation with doctors and medical flight crews, resulting in a helicopter that was truly ‘made for the mission.’ The EC135 is offered with a wide range of dedicated EMS interiors, maximizing operator choice, and provides ample room for single-patient or dual-patient transport. The EC135 is equipped with an anti-resonance isolation system (ARIS) that ensures a smooth ride to safely transport injured patients.

In addition to the wide, unobstructed cabin, the technologically-advanced EC135 helicopter features Eurocopter’s Fenestron® tail rotor and bearingless variable-speed main rotor for excellent performance, range and payload capacity – along with low-noise operation and multi-mission capability. Oversized sliding side doors and rear clamshell doors enable fast loading/unloading of passengers and equipment, with energy-absorbing crew and cabin seats installed as standard equipment. In addition to air medical services, the EC135s are flown in support of the offshore oil & gas industry and for law enforcement in the U.S.

Photo – Treg Manning, American Eurocopter’s Vice President of Commercial Sales (right) presents Fred Buttrell, President and CEO of Med-Trans, with a commemorative photo celebrating the 250^th EC135 delivery.