Western Australia’s Emergency Rescue Helicopter Service (ERHS) will receive three new Leonardo AW139s via operator CHC Australia for delivery in early 2023 as part of an ongoing fleet modernization program. CHC will fly the helicopters for air ambulance, search and rescue, and inter-hospital patient transport from the Jandakot and Bunbury Airports on behalf of the ERHS.
The AW139s will be delivered from Leonardo’s Vergiate final assembly line in Italy. The new aircraft will feature a four-axis DAFCS (digital automatic flight control system) autopilot enhanced with hover mode, TCAS II (traffic collision avoidance system), searchlight, camera, wire cutter, and rescue hoist. A special air ambulance interior and the advanced mission console will be installed in Australia.
More than 130 civil, public utility, and military helicopters of various models have been sold by Leonardo in Australia to date with 60 of those being AW139s. Leonardo said this new order strengthens regional collaboration with CHC, which already operates 10 AW139s and two AW189s. The global fleet of AW139s used by CHC recently exceeded 250,000 flight hours. Since initial certification in 2004, the AW139 intermediate twin has logged orders for over 1250 units from more than 290 operators in over 80 countries.