Aircraft Slated For Delivery Later This Year

The non-profit medical transportation company CareFlite, based in north Texas, has ordered four Bell 407GX helicopters, according to a Bell Helicopter news release. The aircraft will transport ill or injured patients to critical care facilities, serving more than 100 counties within a 150-mile radius of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. The new aircraft are slated for delivery this year.

"We chose to add four Bell 407GXs to our current fleet because of the proven reliability of the Bell 407 combined with its state of the art avionics and factory installed autopilot," said James Swartz, President and CEO of CareFlite.

CareFlite was established in 1979 with one helicopter shared between two hospitals, CareFlite now operates five helicopter bases at Harris Methodist Fort Worth Hospital, Methodist Dallas Medical Center, Denton Regional Hospital, the Frisco Fire Department and the Granbury Municipal Airport. More than 75,000 patients have been airlifted by CareFlite over the last 34 years.
 
"We are honored CareFlite has chosen the 407GX for its life-saving operations. This marks another major acquisition for this aircraft in the Helicopter Emergency Medical Services segment in the United States and in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which is home to Bell Helicopter's corporate offices," said Danny Maldonado, Bell Helicopter's executive vice president of Commercial Sales and Marketing. "Air medical service providers have an incredibly challenging job. They must get to every patient as quickly as possible and every second counts. The Bell 407GX is an ideal aircraft for air medical missions that inherently demand a reliable platform with exceptional speed and safety performance," said Maldonado.
 
Built on the Bell 407 platform, the 407GX features the Garmin G1000H flight deck, providing critical flight information at a glance for greater situational awareness and increased safety. The flight deck includes high resolution LCD screens, hosting primary flight display and multi-function display information, as well as an Integrated Avionics System with Helicopter Terrain Avoidance Warning System, Helicopter Synthetic Vision Technology, Traffic Information Systems and more.

(Image from Bell 407GX introduction at HeliExpo in 2011)

FMI: www.bellhelicopter.com