West Penn Allegheny orders another EC145

American Eurocopter announced at the Air
Medicial Transport conference in
St Louis that West Penn Allegheny Health System
(WPAHS) has ordered its fifth EC145 for its LifeFlight Programme. The new
aircraft is part of a fleet renewal programme and replaces an older aircraft.

“The EC145 provides the size, power,
reliability and range that many air medical operators have chosen for their
fleet replacement and standardization programs,” said Treg Manning, American
Eurocopter’s vice president of sales “LifeFlight’s selection of the EC145
confirms the aircraft’s growing reputation as the medium-class, twin-engine
platform of choice for the US air medical industry.”

“When we selected the EC145 for our fleet
replacement, we chose the helicopter because it gives us the range, capacity,
versatility and reliability we need for our missions,” said Cathy Fackovec,
WPAHS director of operations for emergency services. “By adding this fifth
helicopter we can standardise our fleet, which reduces training costs across
our fleet and greatly reduces maintenance costs from our older aircraft.”