DRF Luftrettung adds new H145 helicopter to its fleet

There was a special surprise at the Munich station of the DRF Luftrettung at the beginning of the year: A brand new H145 with a five-blade rotor arrived at the station and was put into service by the crew. Compared to its predecessor, the helicopter is lighter and therefore offers a higher possible payload with the same performance. In addition, the fifth rotor blade makes it even quieter in the air, which benefits patients and crew.

Sascha Netzer, Station Manager and Pilot in Munich, said: “We already heard some enthusiastic reports from colleagues at the stations who are already using the H145 with a five-blade rotor. Hence our expectations are high. We are very pleased that we now have even better options for caring for our patients."

Continuously adding more H145s

The first H145 with a five-blade rotor arrived at the DRF Luftrettung shipyard in December 2020 and was equipped there for station operations. Since then, DRF Luftrettung has been continuously adding more H145s with five-blade rotors to its fleet. Munich is the seventh station that has received this type of machine to date. In autumn 2021, DRF Luftrettung also retrofitted one of the existing emergency aircraft in its own shipyard to the five-rotor blade system for the first time – as the world's first Airbus customer.

The intensive care transport helicopter used at the Munich station at the Großhadern Clinic is ready for use 24 hours a day. Intensive care transports are carried out primarily in southern Germany, and if necessary across borders to neighbouring countries (like Austria).

Meanwhile, Yorkshire Air Ambulance will be replacing its current Airbus H145 D2 helicopters by the end of Summer 2023.