Story ID: 441
Skytrac Lands SAR and Air Ambulance Customers
By: Mark Huber
Caption: Skytrac will provide satellite connectivity for Omni and Global Medical Response helicopters.
Word Count: 317
Skytrac’s (Booth B1420) satcom systems have been selected by search and rescue and helicopter air ambulance operators. 
VIH Aviation Group is installing Skytrac’s Iridium Certus satellite, 4G/LTE, an wifi solutions in an Omni Helicopters  Sikorsky S-92A slated to fly search and rescue (SAR) missions off the coast of Guyana. The system delivers mission capabilities including automated flight following, mission management, patient medical data transfer, cockpit and cabin connectivity, real-time exceedance alerting, post-flight data offloading, real-time image transfer, and satellite push to talk, voice, text, and e-mail capabilities. Related hardware includes Skytrac’s ISAT-200A onboard server and data acquisition terminal, Skylink 7100 Iridium Certus connectivity system, cockpit control display panel, and dispatch voice interface for voice and text, and related antennas. ISAT-200A will be used to transmit any exceedances to operational control centers in real time. 
Skylink enables connectivity rates of up to 88 Kbps of LEO satellite, 50 Mbps of 4G/LTE cellular, and can act as a wi-fi hotspot for onboard electronic flight bags (EFBs), personal electronic devices, and medical devices and allows for photo transmission in real time.  
The Omni S-92 will be on display at Heli-Expo in the Sikorsky booth, C1020. 
Meanwhile, Global Medical Response (GMR) has selected Skytrac to provide harmonized satellite equipment and capabilities for its fleet of 381 air ambulance helicopters across more than a dozen airframe types. Enabled capabilities via satellite and cellular networks will include automated flight following and mission management via the SkyWeb platform, voice and text messaging, satellite push to talk, flight data monitoring, onboard connectivity for medical devices and EFBs. Installations will include Skytrac’s SAFR flight data management (FDM) suite and HD cockpit camera with audio and video recording as well as automated, post-flight data downloading via cellular 4G/LTE networks.