American Eurocopter, the nation’s leading provider of helicopters for the U.S. emergency medical services industry, today announced that it will be showcasing two of its industry-leading helicopters at the 2011 Air Medical Transport Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. The helicopters, a MedFlight of Ohio EC130 and an EC145 from Geisinger Life Flight, will be prominently displayed on American Eurocopter’s AMTC booth #321.

MedFlight of Ohio has a fleet of eight EC130s that are utilized to perform its mission of caring for and transporting the critically ill and injured throughout the state. The EC130 offers the performance, size and a variety of standard safety features that have made it an ideal, single-engine aircraft for air medical service (AMS) missions.

In addition to the enclosed Fenestron tail rotor, the aircraft comes standard with digital cockpit technology, dual hydraulics and dual channel FADEC with analog backup. It also offers the largest cabin in its class, which helps facilitate patient care and accommodate special equipment. On its fleet of EC130s, MedFlight of Ohio has neonate and pediatric care equipment on board all aircraft.

This EC130 was completed by Metro Aviation and debuts an internal cabin management control system for patient oxygen, suction, air systems and lighting control. The helicopter also features Helicopter Terrain Awareness and Warning System (HTAWS),  Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), Night Vision Goggle Imaging System, Synthetic Vision System (Pilot can see the ground on approach), Autopilot, SAT Weather, Wire Strike System, and a Light Weight Aircraft Recording System (LWARS) that is part of the organization’s Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA) program.

Complementing the single-engine EC130 on the booth is Geisinger Life Flight’s EC145. The EC145 has become the clear helicopter of choice for AMS programs and operators in need of the size, power, payload capacity and performance of a twin-engine helicopter. The aircraft offers maximum flexibility and configuration options with the largest cabin size in its class. All of these, plus its high set main and tail rotors and rear-loading clamshell doors, have set the EC145 apart from its competition.

The interior of this EC145 was conceptually designed by Geisinger Life Flight’s medical and aviation staff and completed by Air Methods. The design in the back was focused on patient care, optimizing the available space, and staff ergonomics. The cockpit was designed to minimize the pilot workload and have the majority of the avionics package in front of the pilot.

This helicopter will be used to its fullest potential. Geisinger is pursuing Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) certification for its EC145, which will also feature active Helicopter Terrain Awareness and Warning System (HTAWS), Night Vision Goggles (NVG), active & passive weather reporting systems, and Single Pilot Instrument Flight Rules (SPIFR) operation.  Life Flight is an active Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) program with an instrument approach into its quaternary care center in Danville, PA.

Geisinger Life Flight chose the EC145 as part of a fleet replacement and standardization program that began in 2005. This aircraft is the fourth of a planned five EC145s for Geisinger’s fleet that is operated by EraMED, LLC.

Both of the helicopters will be displayed on the American Eurocopter booth 321. Representatives from American Eurocopter, MedFlight of Ohio and Geisinger Life Flight will be available on the booth to provide information and answer questions about the aircraft and the programs.