As one of the oldest providers of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in the United States, Omniflight is continuing to grow while pinning its faith in Eurocopter helicopters.

Founded in 1962, Omniflight began in the EMS sector in 1981, and has been completely devoted to this activity since 1992. “We started off with Bell 47 and 206 helicopters, before acquiring our first European aircraft the BO105 CBS in the early 1980s,” Gaylan Crowell, the company CEO and a former Huey pilot in the Vietnam War, explains.

Today Omniflight ranks fourth in the US EMS sector, which has undergone substantial consolidation in the last few years. The company operates a fleet of about 60 helicopters mostly Eurocopter models out of fifty bases. The fleet logs 37,000 flight hours per year and is serviced in three maintenance centers. Gaylan Crowell adds: “The BO105s were followed in fast order by the BK117, a helicopter that is ideal for EMS work. We received the first of these aircraft in 1983 and we’re still operating 23 of them today.”

It was at this time that Omniflight decided to acquire the AStar, first the AS350 B2 and then the AS350 B3. Next to arrive was the EC135. EMS operators are today relatively free to choose the helicopter that best matches their mission requirements, and the AStars and EC135s often win out when a single- and twin-engine combination is required.

Gaylan Crowell emphasizes that “a singleengine aircraft such as the AStar fits the bill perfectly for our activities. We are particularly pleased with its roomy cabin, cost-effective operation, and reliability. When the operating conditions call for a greater payload, we’ll move on up to a light twin, like the EC135.” At the last Heli-Expo in Dallas, Omniflight signed up for three more AS350 B3s. These helicopters will mainly see action in Arizona where operations at altitudes over 4000 meters (12,000 ft) are commonplace because of the terrain.

According to Gaylan Crowell, “other orders will follow as our activities are expanding fast: for instance, in 2005 we won the EMS contract for nine new hospitals. That’s why we’re counting on buying about ten helicopters per year over the next five years.” And, undoubtedly, Eurocopter aircraft will be among those selected.