Wednesday, November 29, 2017

RACQ LifeFlight Positions Former Ambulance NSW MBB-BK 117 C-2 (EC145) Helicopter VH-SYG to Bundaberg Airport

Spotted at Bundaberg Airport on Wednesday 29 November was RACQ LifeFlight (CHC Helicopters Australia / Lloyd Helicopters) Eurocopter MBB-BK 117 C-2 (EC145) helicopter VH-SYG.





It arrived from Archerfield via the Sunshine Coast on Monday 27 November.

VH-SYG had arrived into Archerfield from the South around 10 days earlier and was spotted resting outside the RACQ LifeFlight hangar on Sunday 19 November.  It appears to have since had minor repaint and have RACQ LifeFlight titles added and now VH-SYG will be operating medical retrieval flights for RACQ LifeFlight out of their Bundaberg Airport base.


Meanwhile, fellow RACQ LifeFlight Bell 412 helicopter VH-XCO - which has been operating out of the Bundaberg Airport base since late September - positioned from Bundy to Archerfield direct also on Monday 27 November.

https://www.lifeflight.org.au/

It was also interesting to note that fellow RACQ LifeFlight Agusta Westland AW139 helicopter VH-XIL had been operating out of Bundaberg Airport in more recent times as "Rescue 522".  It was also spotted at Bundy on Wednesday 29 November, resting inside the LifeFlight / Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia (RFDS) hangar before it departed to the Sunshine Coast in the early evening.


Of interest, MBB-BK 117 C-2 (EC145) helicopter VH-SYG was until recently operating for the Ambulance Service of New South Wales (NSW) out of Bankstown Airport often as "Rescue 22".  It operated alongside another Eurocopter MBB-BK 117 C-2 (EC145) helicopter - VH-SYB - and three Agusta AW139 helicopters - VH-SYJ, VH-SYV and VH-SYZ.



It also appears that as well as now operating VH-SYG, RACQ LifeFlight has also taken delivery of VH-SYB with the MBB-BK 117 C-2 (EC145) chopper also recently believed to have positioned into Archerfield from the South last Sunday 26 November.

The Greater Sydney Area Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (GSA-HEMS) contract has recently been awarded to the Toll Group who has officially launched the Toll Rescue Helicopter Service in partnership with the Ambulance Service of NSW to provide aeromedical services to communities of NSW in the Southern Zone including rescue helicopter bases at Bankstown, Wollongong, Orange and Canberra.

Photos taken by Dan B, James Baxter and Jayden Laing  ©

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