A presentation of expertise from almost 50 years of air rescue: From 16 to 18 November 2021, DRF Luftrettung and its subsidiaries will be at European Rotors in Cologne to present their technical, aviation and medical portfolio. Headlining it will be the newly developed collision avoidance system and the fleet’s latest member, a red-and-white five-bladed H145.

European Rotors is a specialised trade fair for vertical take-off and landing aircraft that will be taking place in Cologne from 16 to 18 November 2021. DRF Luftrettung will be present at it in hall K-H8 and will show how it is determinedly driving innovation in its core fields of technology, flight operation and medicine, together with its subsidiaries ARA Flugrettung and NHC Northern Helicopter. The products from their EASA Part-21 design organisation will be a highlight, especially its newly developed collision avoidance system (CAS). The latter is a market innovation that serves as the organisation’s response to increasing air traffic. To make it, three existing technical systems from EC135-type helicopters were brought together and combined. Eight pulsing lights (LED spotlights) and two different collision warning systems work as a single unit to set off acoustic and visual alarms as soon as another aircraft becomes dangerously close. ‘“See and be seen” is what the new system aims for. Our success as air rescuers depends significantly on airspace safety.

The new CAS further improves this safety,’ explains Dr Krystian Pracz, Chairperson of the DRF Luftrettung Executive Board. The intensive testing stage for the new CAS has been completed shortly before the fair, with the system being optimised down to the finest detail. The boost for safety can now also be provided to third parties, along with many other services that DRF Luftrettung will present at its stand. ‘We are greatly excited for the conversations that we will have at the fair. As one of the largest and most experienced air rescue organisations in Europe, we are always happy to share our long-standing expertise from our role as a maintenance and repair organisation, training school and design organisation with those who are interested,’ Dr Krystian Pracz emphasises.

Other insights into educational programmes and day-to-day air rescue

DRF Luftrettung will be easily recognisable thanks to its static display of a red-and-white five-bladed H145 at its stand inside hall K-H8. At it, visitors will have the chance to talk with the air rescuers. In addition to presentations of the latest innovation, the DRF Luftrettung academy’s courses in aviation, technology and medicine will be put on show alongside the new professional helicopter pilot training programme. Experts from the subsidiaries ARA Flugrettung and NHC Northern Helicopter will also be in attendance to provide specialised information about Alpine hoist and offshore rescue.