Finmeccanica Helicopter Division has announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Era Group Inc, for the development of the Emergency Medical Service variant of the AgustaWestland AW609 TiltRotor. Era is a major customer of AgustaWestland helicopters, both as an operator and a lessor – recently including two AW189s.

The signing of the agreement is strong confirmation of the future plans for the world’s first commercial tiltrotor, after the fatal accident of a prototype in October 2015. One prototype is currently available, and two more are in various stages of construction – one in Italy and one at the company plant in Philadelphia.

A year ago, Bristow Helicopters was announced as fulfilling a similar role in the offshore support and SAR operational roles. Bristow reported at the time that their role incuded addressing concepts around operations, regulations, maintenance, configuration optimization, as well as identifying possible areas of enhancement or modifications.

Jeremy Parkin – HeliHub.com