Air ambulance service for Aylesbury Vale and Milton Keynes unveils new helicopter

The air ambulance charity serving Aylesbury Vale and Milton Keynes has unveiled its replacement helicopter.

The new Airbus135 – G-TVLY - will become the charity’s air ambulance when it takes its air operations in house this month.

G-TVLY is kitted out with the same lifesaving equipment as the charity’s former helicopter, and will fly from its operations base at RAF Benson, in south Oxfordshire.

The new helicopter was unveiled this week at White Waltham Airfield, near Maidenhead, where the Thames Valley Air Ambulance was founded 23 years ago.

G-TVLY has a top speed of 135mph and will continue to enable crews to reach any part of Bucks, Berks and Oxon within 15 minutes of take-off.

It has been modified to meet the needs of critical care, including stripping out unnecessary weight to make the aircraft lighter and more fuel efficient.

It also has state-of-the-art avionics, including flight management computers with digital mapping – much like you would find in a car sat nav. Once airborne, it requires an area the size of two tennis courts to land safely.

Thames Valley Air Ambulance is looking forward to getting its Air Operator Certificate in the next few weeks, when it will become the fifth air ambulance charity in the country to bring their air operations in house.

CEO Amanda McLean said: “Our charity exists to give everybody in our community the best chance of surviving and recovering from an emergency. Every decision we make as a charity has our critically ill and injured patients at its heart.

“This next step in our evolution as an independent healthcare provider was necessary to ensure we can continue to deliver the absolute best critical care to the people we treat. They deserve the very best, in their moment of need.”

Bringing the aviation operations in house means Thames Valley Air Ambulance will be directly and legally responsible for all aspects of its operating approvals, compliance and safety of the flight operations and aircraft airworthiness.

Amanda added: “Having our own helicopter is part of Thames Valley Air Ambulance’s long-term strategy to ensure we can continue to put patients at the heart of everything we do.

"This is an exciting milestone in the history of the charity and one which simply couldn’t have happened without the support of the communities we serve.”

Thames Valley Air Ambulance is called out on average seven times a day, reaching some of the most critically ill and injured patients in the area night and day, 365 days a year.

With highly trained critical care paramedics and doctors, it brings the hospital to the patient, giving them the best chance when the worst happens.

But Thames Valley Air Ambulance receives no regular government or National Lottery funding and relies entirely on the generosity of supporters to keep its helicopter in the skies and its five Critical Care Response Vehicles on the road.

To find out how you can help, visit www.tvairambulance.org.uk/donate