AMS awarded STC for Leonardo AW119 MKII and AW109E Power

AMS Heli Design has been granted a supplementary type certificate (STC) by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to allow multiple configurations for the Leonardo AW119 MKII and AW109E Power, including a newly designed VVIP interior.

AMS has also announced the completion of a retrofit from emergency medical services (EMS) to VIP of one AW119Kx.

Further to the completions, the new STC allows AMS to change any existing helicopter configuration into VIP, utility, EMS, medevac or multi-role.

Andrea Girolin, Chief Executive Officer of AMS Heli Design, commented: “I believe this is a milestone STC for Leonardo helicopters since owners, lessors and financiers can now purchase their assets knowing they will be able to resell to the widest possible clientele, thus having a much higher residual value granted and quick sales when [the] time comes.”

The interior is characterized by a three-passenger aft-facing bench and three independent forward-facing seats. A so-called ‘split base’, which allows the installation of an articulating stretcher, can be secured to the bench to reconfigure a utility helicopter into medevac or, conversely, a fully EMS-configured helicopter into a 6-pax utility. This option allows operators to cover new mission types and adds new possible revenue streams. A police/government option is also available to include special missions features.

These new interiors configurations are added to the original EMS one – the lightest and one of the more advanced EMS interiors available on the type, according to AMS – which was recently delivered for the first time to a US-based operator.

Bell and Leonardo signed a memorandum of understanding earlier this year to evaluate cooperation opportunities in the tiltrotor technology domain.