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Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance Aircraft 'Pegasus' formally unveiled at naming ceremony
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We would once again like to thank the Devon and Somerset Law Society (DASLS) for their continued support. We are delighted to have been selected as the president’s chosen charity from 2017-2019 alongside Devon Air Ambulance Trust.
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The start of 2018 has already been packed full of activity for Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, so we thought that we would share some recent news regarding the official naming of our aircraft, and a view from our Unit Chief Pilot, Mario Carretta who flies it. |
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Having announced that our AW169 helicopter was to be named ‘Pegasus’ following a competition last year, we were delighted to be able to hold an event in January, where the name of the aircraft was formally unveiled.
Kindly hosted by Leonardo Helicopters in Yeovil, the event gave the Charity an opportunity to showcase the aircraft and inform guests of its vision and mission both from a clinical and aviation point of view.
Geoff Munday, Managing Director of Leonardo Helicopters began proceedings by welcoming the audience, before Roger Morgan, Chairman of Trustees for Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance responded by thanking all those who support the Charity and have helped make it so successful.
The ‘unveiling’ was handed to the Charity’s Patrons, Annie Maw (Lord Lieutenant of Somerset) and Angus Campbell (Lord Lieutenant of Somerset). They were joined by Angela Andrews, Deborah Fear and Poppy Holt who were three of the winners of a competition which was launched to find a suitable name.
Also in attendance were the young winners of an art competition which the Charity ran alongside the naming competition. Each of them were extremely proud and excited to have their photograph taken standing next to an enlarged version of their winning entry.
Bill Sivewright, Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance Chief Executive Officer took to the stage and congratulated the winners before giving a review of the Charity’s vision and the key milestones reached since our formation in 2000.
Clinical Lead, Dr. Phil Hyde continued proceedings and talked about the Charity’s clinical mission. Phil was then joined by Paul Jelley and Jennifer Molloy; both patients who needed the services of Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance after being involved in a cycle and horse riding incident respectively.
Finally, Unit Chief Pilot, Mario Carretta spoke about the aviation side of the service, highlighting some of the key facts and differences between flying during the day and at night and commenting on the pilots’ appreciation of the new aircraft. The audience then congregated and watched ‘Pegasus’ lift and fly off into a fantastic sunset, back to its Henstridge airbase.
Mario kindly shares some of his thoughts about Pegasus and provides an insight into flying on the air ambulance:
“The team have seen many changes over the last year, particularly on the aviation side. They have learnt how to operate two new aircraft types; Pegasus (the AW169) and the MD902 Explorer that acts as our spare aircraft. Additionally, we have commenced night operations following an extended period of training that started with night vision goggle theory and finished with simulated night missions to unprepared sites. Throughout this time, I have been thoroughly impressed by the professionalism of the team as they managed these changes whilst continuing to provide an amazing service.
“Our job as pilots, quite simply, is to use Pegasus to deliver the clinicians and their equipment to the patient as quickly and as safely as possible. We operate as a single pilot operation, which means that both the Doctors and Practitioners are trained as Technical Crew Members. This enables them, amongst other things, to sit in the front left-hand seat and assist the pilot with cockpit duties on the way to the incident. If we take a patient to hospital during the day, then both clinicians will be in the cabin tending to the patient. However, at night we carry an extra practitioner who is assigned permanently to front left hand seat duties. Therefore, the clinicians are not passengers, but are essential aircrew members who must understand and keep current in aviation matters, as well as having to ensure that they are fully prepared to deal with whatever medical situation awaits them on arrival at scene.
“The night operating environment is new to us and actions that are easy to achieve in the day take longer during the hours of darkness. We therefore take more time in the planning of a night mission to give us better situational awareness before we arrive at the scene. Using satellite imagery, we look for suitable landing locations and check for hazards such as wires and access points. Prior to this, we would have also searched for the nearest pre-surveyed landing site, just in case the location we have chosen proves to be unsuitable due to things like livestock or tall crops being present. Once overhead the scene, we check again for hazards by using the Trakkabeam light (the white object on Pegasus’s nose).
“We are fortunate to have the latest night vision goggles. For those that aren’t familiar, these goggles look like a small pair of binoculars that attach to the front of our flying helmets. They amplify what light is available and project the image onto a small TV screen in front of each eye. Their performance is amazing and allows us to remain operational even on the darkest of nights.
“We are extremely fortunate in Dorset and Somerset to have many hospitals that have the ability to accept our aircraft at night. This is a luxury that not all regions have, and we are grateful to the local residents for their continued support and understanding of the need to fly night missions.
“Pegasus is faster, has a better endurance and has more power than previous aircraft that I have flown in this role. It also has some excellent features which help single pilot operations, particularly when the weather starts to make flying difficult.
“Hopefully I’ve given you a little insight into what we do and that you’ve also picked up on the fact that we are delighted and impressed by the increased capabilities that Pegasus give us!”
We hope that you find this information about the Charity useful and informative. More information about the Charity can be found by visiting our website: www.dsairambulance.org.uk |
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