Kent Air Ambulance

The Kent Air Ambulance was an organisation providing emergency medical services through the provision of a helicopter air ambulance covering the county of Kent in South East England. The helicopter was funded by the Kent Air Ambulance Trust (under the operating name of the Kent Air Ambulance Fund), which was a registered charity, raising money from public and private donations in excess of £4m every year between Kent, Sussex and Surrey.[1][2] In June 2007, the service extended it areas of operation to Surrey and Sussex requiring an additional helicopter. It now operates as Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex.

Kent Air Ambulance on a sortie in neighbouring Sussex

Overview and history

The service was operated by the Kent Air Ambulance Trust, a registered charity established in 1989. The trust was founded by Kate Chivers (in whose honour the helicopter was named),[3] and was originally called the South East Thames Air Ambulance.[4] Initially operated on a part-time basis, the air ambulance became a seven-day service in January 2000 and shortly afterwards moved from its original Rochester Airport base to Marden near Maidstone.[5]

It operated one McDonnell Douglas MD902 Explorer helicopter (registration G-KAAT) from Marden. This location, combined with its high cruise speed, quoted by the manufacturer as in excess of 150 mph,[2][3][6][7] enabled the crew to reach almost all of the county within 15 minutes of takeoff (the exception being the farther reaches of Thanet which may take up to 20 minutes to reach).[8]

In March 2008, it was announced that the trust would be collaborating with Sussex Police to provide a night time rescue service utilising the Sussex Police Air Operations Unit helicopter, Hotel 900, which is equipped to fly at night. Prior to this, the service was restricted to daylight operation only.[9]

The £1.6m that it cost to run each year was funded almost entirely by voluntary donations and fund-raising, such as the sale of its own lottery tickets, as it received little government, National Lottery or NHS funding. The service flew over 12,000 missions since its inception.

1998 crash
Memorial to the crash of the Kent Air Ambulance in 1998

In July 1998, the air ambulance, a Eurocopter AS355 Twin Squirrel, registration G-MASK,[10] crashed in good weather after colliding with power cables near Burham while returning to Rochester Airport following an aborted call to attend a road accident.[10] All three crew – the pilot, Graham Budden, and two paramedics, Tony Richardson and Mark Darby – were killed as the helicopter burst into flames on impact.[11]

Initial investigation established no cause for the crash, due to the fireball produced on impact. Initially the pilot's employers, Police Aviation Services, denied liability. On 19 February 2004, following a civil case brought by the pilot's widow to the High Court in Manchester, it was ruled that the crash was caused by mechanical failure not, as had been suggested, flying low for fun, and ordered compensation to be paid.[12][13]

A memorial to the crew is located at the Blue Bell Hill picnic site, close to the scene of the crash.[14]

Expansion

In June 2007, following a two-year fundraising campaign, spearheaded by Penelope Keith, the trust began operating a second helicopter from a new base at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, serving the Surrey and Sussex area.[15][16] This newer service operated as the Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance. This aircraft was subsequently relocated to Redhill Aerodrome and was capable of night flight.[17]

See also

References
  1. "Kent Air Ambulance Trust, registered charity no. 1021367". Charity Commission for England and Wales.
  2. "Who we are". Kent Air Ambulance Trust. Archived from the original on 31 July 2009.
  3. Sturgess, Trevor (25 September 2007). "Naming of air ambulance a tribute to Kate". Kent Messenger.
  4. "Air ambulance founder in honoured". BBC News. 24 September 2007. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
  5. Horn, Jenni (17 July 2008). "Building towards a bright future". Kent Messenger.
  6. "MD Explorer Performance Specifications" (PDF). MD Helicopters. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
  7. "Helicopter named after air ambulance trust founder". Kent News. 29 July 2009.
  8. "Kent Air Ambulance Flying Time Map". Kent Air Ambulance Trust. Archived from the original on 24 January 2009.
  9. Hall, Emily (26 March 2008). "Night time air ambulance 'will save lives'". Kent Messenger.
  10. "Bulletin No:2/2000 Aerospatiale AS355 F1 Ecureuil II G-MASK" (PDF). Air Accident Investigation Board. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 March 2009.
  11. "UK Helicopter crash kills three". BBC News. 27 July 1998. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
  12. "Air ambulance crash pilot cleared". BBC News. 19 February 2004. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
  13. "Review of pilot death - Graham Budden". Aviation Watch. 1998. Archived from the original on 11 November 2007.
  14. "Burham Village Kent Air Ambulance crash page". Burham parish council.
  15. "Sussex Air Ambulance - Who we are".
  16. "New helicopter ambulance airborne". BBC News. 8 June 2007. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
  17. "Air ambulances to fly at night in Sussex, Kent and Surrey". bbc.co.uk. 18 October 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
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