Hasselhof

Just saw the job ad for the AAS aeromedical job on AFAP for PA31/P drivers based in YSBK and the minimums seem very low for that kind of work.

Does anyone know if there are good reasons to steer clear?

startingout

AAS took over the AOC of what was the old charter/aeromed company that ran the PA31p that crashed off the end of the runway a couple of years ago. I know from friends as a survey company they are great to work for but as for the new amalgamation of companies I am not sure sorry.

wishiwasupthere

Chartair were advertising for a 402 aeromed pilot out of TNK not too long ago with similar minimums.

kalavo

Aeromed requirements are generally lower for day only low priority patients than high priority patients 24/7. Chartair's Tennant Creek operation only does hospital transfers by day, RFDS will go in there for anything life threatening.

Hasselhof

I don't know if they TNK transfers are day only, but the pilots mostly go there to get their night.

travelator

From memory, the Chartair/TNK deal was with the hospital in Tennant. They decided whether the king air or 402 was needed. The pilot based there was on call day and night, no day only transfers.

lk978

AAS are a good quality operator... led by some good guys with plenty of experience and a willingness to pass it on even to non staff members like me. They also have some single turbines and lots of ability to give Icus so I would say the high standard will continue

Wally Mk2

Gee they are certainly low hrs for that job. I guess a sign of the times as once upon a time you couldn't get near a beat up old 'Sneca' with less than 10 mill hrs!
Maybe the insurance Co's are lax these days as well.
Good work if you can get it by the sounds of things


Wmk2

lk978

ahhh the insurance company thing... that ol chestnut...

To be honest I think this is a bit of an old myth as I personally have never been held back because of the insurance company, in my career and I have flown some aircraft without the so called requirements that everyone has in their head. 500 multi 1500TT ect.... maybe I have been lucky.

My understanding is that experience set out in company policies can decrease the policy amount and decrease the excess required to pay. However items like simulator training do not (go figure, as they do in the USA).

The idea that the insurance company will not cover a pilot is stupid as how many owner flyers out there have machines way above their experience levels... the closest I know of was an owner of a single pilot jet required to have 50 hours Icus on the aircraft before PIC and he only had 600 hours.


But yes.... times are changing

Kharon

A slow, but certain devolution of operator prerogative, confidence, competence, certainty and native ability to actually fly an aircraft is undermining the trainers of pilots, the checking of pilots and the qualification of said pilots.

Looking back at the log book – C402 endorsement at 346 hours ME command, Be 18 at 366 and a big step up to P166 at a staggering 890 ME hours.

Where did this overweening, puerile rubbish about “kids', with proper training not being able to 'operate' a B5700 Kg aircraft, day or night come from; and what, in the name sanity does it matter what's in the back of it?.

Why does a C402 require 16 squilian hours, for Pete 's sake; it's a lighty. <5700 kg – land.

All bollicks - you betcha.

Triple Captain

Pitty their website doesn't work!

thorn bird

Agree with Kharon, the way CASA carries on these "Lighties" are more complicated than the Space Shuttle...for Christ sake in the country that operates more light aircraft than the rest of the world put together an "Endorsement" is not even required...its called "MULTI ENGINE LAND". and somehow they still beat us in the "SAFETY" stakes.

Howard Hughes

I thought this was going to be a thread about how few hours aeromed pilots do per year, compared to their airline pilot brethren!

Back on topic: I think those hours look very realistic, requires some experience but not over the top.

PS: Must be some serious movement out there, a lot of jobs on offer on AFAP.

PLovett

With regard to the Tennant Creek position, the decision on whether you flew or not was often based on whether the hospital had a nurse they could release to be the flight nurse (they had to pay overtime).

The flights were mainly patient transfer (mostly to Alice Springs but very occasionally Darwin) but could also be emergency evacuations and recoveries. This could include having to fly to remote indigenous communities or cattle stations at night where one needed to bring along their A game skills as they were black hole approaches.

The aircraft I flew there was well equipped and well maintained. That is not to say there weren't issues but generally I had confidence in the machine. The flying can be challenging but was not massive in terms of hours. Most months I was there I only flew between 20 and 40 hours - the limitation being the availability of a flight nurse as the hospital was short staffed when I was there.