Monroe County Trauma Star fleet temporarily grounded
The local government of Monroe County, in the US state of Florida, has temporarily grounded its air ambulance fleet after an emergency landing
The three Sikorsky S-76 helicopters, operated under the name Trauma Star, have been temporarily grounded after one of them made an emergency landing at Florida Keys Marathon International Airport on 22 February.
The aircraft had departed to transfer a patient to the HCA Florida Kendall Hospital in Miami at the time of the incident, but had returned to the Trauma Star at the airport after crew realized that the helicopter’s landing gear had malfunctioned.
The aircraft were expected to be back in operation by the morning of 23 February, after maintenance checks have been performed to ensure that the other two helicopters don’t have the same technical issues.
A safe landing
According to the Miami Herald newspaper, the helicopter emergency landed at around 05:30 hrs with at least one of its wheels still retracted.
Despite this, the helicopter managed to land safely without sustaining major damage, and without injury to patient or crew.
The patient was then collected via a waiting ground ambulance, which then completed the transfer.
Monroe County is currently in the process of replacing the aging S-76 fleet with three new Leonardo AW139s, ordered in March 2023.
Oliver Cuenca
Oliver Cuenca is a Junior Editor at AirMed&Rescue. He was previously a News and Features Journalist for the rail magazine IRJ until 2021, and studied MA Magazine Journalism at Cardiff University. His favourite helicopter is the AW169 – the workhorse of the UK air ambulance sector! He also led the creation of Waypoint: The AirMed&Rescue podcast, serving as its Production Editor and co-host.