‘Game changing’ jet air ambulance launched in New Zealand

Skyline Aviation and the Hawkes Bay Air Ambulance Service, based in New Zealand, have announced the commissioning of a Cessna Mustang jet air ambulance. The companies say that the jet will shave off 35 per cent of equivalent turbo-prop aircraft flight times. They also estimate that flight times from Napier to Wellington will take a little over 35 minutes, Auckland around 40 minutes and Christchurch in just a little over an hour.

“We see it as a real game changer for the community,” said Mike Toogood, managing director of Skyline Aviation. “With the Mustang, we are also saving precious health dollars, whilst further enhancing safety, patient welfare and saving valuable clinician duty time. The Mustang is able to fly up to 21,000 ft while maintaining sea-level cabin pressure, which is perfect for operating well clear of weather, turbulence and traffic and at the same time enhancing the patient’s clinical welfare”

The craft is fitted with the Garmin 1000 glass cockpit, synthetic vision and electronically controlled engines. It is also said to have safety and system redundancy features ‘normally found only in airliners’.

The new jet service will officially be launched on 18 November by Dr Kevin Snee, Hawkes Bay Air Ambulance Service CEO.