http://www.policeaviationnews.com/Ac...August2015.pdf
LONDON: A fresh plea was made last month for a second emergency helicopter in London, after the capital’s only air ambulance was unable to fly on the 10th anniversary of the 7/7 bombings.
The charity behind the service said the helicopter required unscheduled maintenance on the day — the 50th day this year it has not been available.
During the July 7 attacks in 2005, the same Lon- don Air Ambulance flew 18 sorties. By chance, about 30 doctors and paramedics were visiting the helipad at the Royal London hospital that day, and the helicopter was able to fly them to the bomb sites and to take medicines and equipment between hospitals.
Dr Gareth Davies, medical director of London’s Air Ambulance, said: “The helicopter absolutely came into its own on the day of the 7/7 bombings. We were able to respond in a way we could never have imagined.”
London’s Air Ambulance estimates it could reach an extra 400 patients a year within the M25 with a second helicopter. Its appeal, Your London, Your Helicopter, needs £2.1M to reach its £4.4M target.
Ed: London has a very good response car facility which has taken the brunt of the call outs during the many absences of the MD900 G-EHMS over the years but for the Air Ambulance charity to actually mention the 50-day downtime this year suggests that they are getting ra- ther short tempered with the reliability of their Explorer. Having the aircraft missing for a 30 day annual maintenance is one thing but losing a third of the first 188 days of this year is plain unsustainable!
No mention has been made of the type of helicopter the operators plan to obtain to supple- ment the Explorer but it seems likely that there will be a change.