If.... you have wasta :{

AA still hasn't paid the dozens of staff members who worked on this project.

Mmmm ...

And most likely SRCA have not paid them ... we'll never know the real truth ??


:confused:

Probably true, but the hardworking subcontractors had contracts with AA, not the SRCA. AA is obligated to pay their bills.

Paint them black, put curtains in the windows, and call them hearses.
There will unlikely be any lives saved if recent history is observed.
Very sad actually, with the amount of money floating around.

Rigidhead

I see that the most-recent post is not quite two months ago...are they still in service with ADA-supplied helicopters? Or did that fizzle like the AA/SRCA arrangement?

SRCA is still flying - just
 

I have watched the SRCA trying to get EMS projects going for the last 5 years. First one they used a compamy from Turkey with no prior EMS service who crashed a BO 105 in Jeddah and killed a pilot and 2 paramedics. The next one was going OK with Action Aviation running a bunch of EMS helicopters for them and saving many lives on the roads of Saudi. Then the SRCA threw out their own top management who knew what they were doing in EMS and apponted their head of training to run everything despite him having zero prior knowledge of HEMS, then eventually the whole service shut down in 2010 due to unpaid bills by the SRCA. I have heard estimates like 150 companies and staff around the world currently owned money by SRCA and SRCA thinks no one can touch them in Saudi. This includes about 50 doctors who were recruited by SRCA these poor guys quit their jobs around teh world and turned up in Saudi and then SRCA had no money to pay them and SRCA just told them to leave again. Some still don’t have their old jobs back and this situation has ruined some of their lives.

Next the SRCA pulled in ADA to try to restart their EMS. But for financial reasons, they had to put in some less expensive old Bell 412SP's with 20,000 hours and employ some cheaper non-EMS pilots. Result, yes you guessed it, another accident in Dec 2010 outside Riyadh, where an SRCA B412 EMS helicopter landed on the edge of a Saudi road just over a small hill, and when a truck came over the top it went straight into the SRCA helicopter which still had rotors running, but nobody cordoning off the road. I have seen photographs and it was a real big mess with casualties. But this accident seems to have been kept as quiet as possible.

Many of the expat paramedics in Riyadh today are being treated very poorly by the SRCA with promised allowances completely ignored and poor housing. But once you have quit your old job and gone to Saudi you have few choices left and you just try to live with it and hope it all gets better sometime.

To answer the question above, there has been a lot of maintenance downtime of the old B412's and as of November 2011 there is generally just one helicopter operating in Riyadh and one in Jeddah, but yes they are still flying.

ADA is still there flying in Riyadh and Jedah.

Mmmmm .....

I have it on good authority that the job is still going on .... BUT they seem to be not doing too much flying ....

Crews are still pissed offfffffff .... paramedics VERY pissed off and high turnover will continue ....

Rumour of new 412EP's being purchased by ADA ... but are they going to Saudi ... who knows till they get there

Best rumour is that SRCA are very slow at paying their bills (how surprising??) and are stretching the ADA friendship (?) ...

Of course all the above rumours need to be confirmed as correct ....


:}

Mmmm ....

aviation2 .... I'm afraid I have to partially agree with CVR ... by and large you are mixing stories to give an very untrue sitrep of what has gone on.

There was NEVER an ADA 412SP in Saudi (it was a "Classic" only sent as a short term aircraft and never used). All the other aircraft are 412 EPs or virtually new AW139s.

The 412 accident was as CVR states actually in the UAE and had NOTHING to do with ADA (or Saudi).

ALL of ADA's command pilots were VERY experienced and many of them had extensive EMS experience .... also the ADA SOP for the job was written by a group of very experienced EMS pilots which were headed up by an Ex US "EMS Pilot of the Year" ... and covered just about everything necessary for the task.

You are misguided about the maintenance issues they do not have that much to do with the age of the aircraft ... and a lot to do with the logistics of working in Saudi.

You are however mostly correct with your views of SRCA.

:=

aviation2 - it amazes me that someone with clearly no knowledge of the operation can post a load of bull**** like its fact

As CVR stated, all 6 machines that were originally brought over are still here and flying. A 139 in Riyadh, a 412 in Medina and 2 412s in Jeddah are being crewed 24/7 as we speak. The second 139 is waiting to have the medical kit reinstalled after it was used to ferry SRCA VIPs around for the Hajj. The other 412 is waiting on parts for the rotor brake, hardly a major mx issue as you suggest.

Yes, it is true that SRCA has had trouble retaining their expat medics, but this was solved by crewing the aircraft with Saudi doctors. Our lack of flying has nothing to do with aircraft serviceability or crew issues, it is due to the Red Crescent dispatch not utilizing the aircraft.

I was speaking with one of the Saudi doctors a couple days ago who just transferred from ground to air ambulance. He was telling us that all of the ground crews have been instructed not to call for the helicopter because of internal politics within the Red Crescent.

Re: SRCA is still flying - just
 

Aviation2 what a first post and what a load of CRAP,

The 412 accident which you refer to, was a UAE Military aircraft and happened in the UAE 3 years ago. There are 6 aircraft in Saudi, 2 139's and 4 Bell 412EP's. All aircraft are flying and there is very little down time apart from the normal checks/snags that any other operator would have. I cant speak for the medics, but most of the expats are still there, but most are coming to the end of there contracts and who knows if they will extend. Yes there are some unhappy people but no jobs perfect all of the time or is it?

Traffic accidents are tough on helicopters in the UAE. When I was there in 07 an Evergreen A139 was parked on the ramp at FAS and a garbage truck ran into it. He got the main rotor spining pretty good.

The accident was a UAE police 412 that was hit by a truck, it was repaired in the ADA hanger in Abu Dhabi. This happened this year.

So if a guy wanted to play EMS in the sandbox talking to Abu Dhabi would be a first step?

Aerobot,

send me a pm with your email, tried responding to your questions but it didn't work.

Mike

No Aerobot. If you still want to fly EMS in Saudi after reading this then your first step should be a visit to your psychiatrist.

Epiphany.....if he still wants to fly EMS in Saudi he is probably short of money and wants ADA to give him a free conversion and pay him for doing very little. Some very happy people working (or not) in Saudi, long list of pilots still trying to get there too....:)

Demented - hmmmm. Nowt as queer as folk.

Hello Folks,

Any updated info on ADA's HEMS operations in Saudi Arabia?...I might gonna get a co-pilot job (6 weeks on - 6 weeks off) and I would love to have some first hand info on it (paycheck, facilities, hours logged etc)...Thanks guys!