Florida's Monroe County has ordered three Leonardo AW139 intermediate twin helicopters for its Trauma Star air ambulance program, jointly operated by the county’s fire rescue and sheriff’s departments. The aircraft will serve the Florida Keys from Lower Keys Medical Center and the Marathon International Airport and will be delivered between the end of 2024 and early 2025.
“The AW139 is the only aircraft available that will meet Trauma Star’s mission profile, able to fly the distance, carry our payloads, and utilize our current landing zones,” said Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay. The new helicopters will replace the Trauma Star’s current fleet of Sikorsky S-76 aircraft. That aircraft is no longer in production.
Monroe County is the southernmost county in Florida and includes Key West, Marathon, Key Colony Beach, Layton, and Islamorada. It is spread across 3,737 square miles (73 percent water) and includes large portions of the Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve.
Nearly 400 AW139s worldwide fly various emergency and disaster relief operations and have logged over 900,000 flight hours. Overall, more than 1,100 AW139s are in service and have flown more than 3.7 million flight hours. The AW139 is already used by customers in Florida, New Jersey, Maryland, and California.