AMSL Aero partners with CareFlight for Vertiia aeromedical fit-out
Together, AMSL Aero’s long-range eVTOL aircraft will enable CareFlight to provide direct services from remote sites directly to hospitals.
Vertiia’s first hover. Photo Credit: AMSL Aero
Green aerospace company AMSL Aero (Sydney, Australia) and critical care aeromedical retrieval service CareFlight (New South Wales) have deepened a partnership to refine and test the aeromedical fit-out of Vertiia, an efficient, long-range, zero-emissions electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
Vertiia will enable CareFlight to offer a direct service from remote sites directly to the hospital. The aircraft will be able to fly from CareFlight bases and land directly next to a remote medical clinic without needing to transfer patients between airplanes and road ambulances, thereby reducing clinical risk and delivering better patient outcomes.
“The fitted-out Vertiia will serve as a flying hospital with all of the best emergency equipment at the clinician’s fingertips,” Andrew Moore, AMSL Aero CEO and Vertiia inventor, says. “Aircraft are typically designed first, then an aeromedical fit-out is shoehorned inside. We are doing the opposite: we’re starting with the optimum aeromedical fit-out and designing the aircraft around it, with the needs of our key partners such as CareFlight front of mind.”
AMSL Aero recently completed Vertiia’s maiden test flight. The next-generation aircraft will be able to fly up to 1,000 kilometers, three times the range of any eVTOL, the company contends. It has zero carbon emissions and can carry four passengers and a pilot at a cruising speed of 300 kilometers per hour.
“Our mission is to save lives, speed recovery and serve the community. We transport patients on jets, turboprops, helicopters and road vehicles, so when AMSL approached us about the Vertiia eVTOL, we leapt at the opportunity,” CareFlight CEO Mick Frewen adds. “The Vertiia can supplement our road, helicopter and turboprop fleet. We love the huge doors; the doorway is two meters wide, which is wider than on any aircraft we operate.” Frewen sees the potential for the aircraft across a number of CareFlight’s existing operations.
To mark the agreement with CareFlight, AMSL Aero is displaying its prototype aeromedical cabin fit-out for Vertiia at the Avalon International Airshow in Victoria, taking place Feb. 28 to March 5, 2023.
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