DRF Luftrettung, November 26, 2021 - New helicopter for the region: On November 26, an H145 helicopter with a five-blade rotor went into service as the new Christoph Sachsen-Anhalt.
The helicopter is lighter than its predecessor and thus offers a higher possible payload with the same performance. In addition, the fifth rotor blade makes it even quieter in the air, which benefits patients and crew. The commissioning is a premiere for the state of Saxony-Anhalt:
The helicopter is the first with a five-blade rotor to take off here for the DRF Luftrettung. With the change of model as part of the fleet renewal, the air rescuers are pursuing their goal of constantly advancing the development of air rescue.
Curiosity and anticipation at the DRF Luftrettung station in Halle: A brand new H145 with a five-blade rotor has arrived at the station and the crew put it into service at noon today. "We are very excited to see how our new Christoph Sachsen-Anhalt will present itself in operation," says Björn Heiderich, station manager and pilot in Halle.
“We know the enthusiastic reports from our colleagues in Stuttgart, Villingen-Schwenningen, Hanover and Regensburg, who are already using the H145 with a five-blade rotor. So our expectations are high. And we are very pleased that we now have even better options for the care of our patients .”
dr Krystian Pracz, CEO of DRF Luftrettung, explains the background: “The commissioning of the new H145 with five-blade rotor represents a milestone in air rescue in Germany , and we are very proud of that. We made a very conscious decision to deploy the system as soon as it is available and to be the first to do so. Because it is part of our self- image to advance the further development of air rescue . We always have one goal in mind: to further improve the care of our patients in all areas relevant to air rescue – people, medicine and technology.”
The first H145 helicopter with a five-blade rotor arrived at the DRF Luftrettung facilities in December 2020 and was equipped there for station operations.
Since then, the DRF Luftrettung has continuously added more H145s with five-blade rotors to its fleet. Halle is the fifth station to have received a machine of this type.
For the first time, the DRF Luftrettung has also converted one of the existing aircraft in its own shipyard to the five-rotor blade system– as the world's first Airbus customer. The process required for this, including all the necessary approvals, had previously been developed in close cooperation with Airbus. Within the next three years, DRF Luftrettung plans to convert all of its H145 helicopters from four to five rotor blades. In the future, DRF Luftrettung will also be able to offer this conversion to external customers.
Airbus H145 D3 5-blades rotor helicopter