YS05 HFL This red Mercedes ML350 is used as a ground response vehicle by the Yorkshire Air Ambulance team. It carries a list of sponsors on the sides and is fitted with a winch on the front.
The rear view of the Merc. Notice the charity’s logo on the rear window and rear door windows.
YD55 HCV Although not really an emergency vehicle, this Mercedes Sprinter van used by the Yorkshire Air Ambulance looks very impressive. It has a photo-quality image of their helicopter on the sides as well as a city skyline around the skirt. It is sued for carrying bags of donated clothing etc.
This is G-EHMS, a MD 902 Explorer that has been the London Air Ambulance since 2000. The twin engined helicopter has permission to land anywhere to assist with serious medical emergencies. Here it has landed at a cordoned-off road junction. It can get specialist paramedics and doctors to the people who need them, and then transport the casualty to hospital at up to 140 kts.
G-WAAN This is a Great North Air Ambulance Bolkow 105 Eurocopter called the Pride of Cumbria. It is the first air ambulance to be based in the county and cover the mountainous Lake District National Park. Initially based at Appleby, then at Penrith police headquarters, the aircraft will be stationed at a custom-built base in the Gillwilly Industrial Estate, Penrith.
The Cumbria air ambulance had a difficult start. It was launched in August 2004 but was grounded in February 2005 due to a lack of funding. It was re-launched six month later.
G-SASH is the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. It is a MD902 Explorer and replaced G-PASG in July 2005. With the side door open you can see how a recumbent casualty is loaded onto a swiveling platform.
The side view of the Explorer. It is painted in a bright yellow colour with some sponsors’ adverts. It can take two paramedics to emergencies at up to 154 mph. In addition to the pilot and paramedics, it can carry a stretcher casualty plus two other seated passengers. Notice how the helicopter does not have a rear tail rotor, making it much safer when people are walking around it.
The aircraft lifting off. Because it does not have a tail rotor, the Explorer is one of the quietest aircraft of its kind.
This is G-NWAA, the air ambulance that covers the North West of England. In this photograph it has landed in moorland that is difficult to reach by ground vehicles.
G-WYPA in service with Wiltshire police and ambulance services in 2005. This aircraft was previously one of the Great North Air Ambulances (photos lower down the page). Prior to this it was new in 1989 as West Yorkshire’s police helicopter (hence the callsign).
The rear view of the Messerschmitt.
As the Great North Air Ambulance lifts off the ground the pilot encounters a moment of instability.
The same air ambulance in normal flight.
Here a contingent of air ambulance doctors and paramedics meet for a debrief after an exercise. They are easily identified in the field by their orange overalls.
A doctor leaps from G-GNAA, one of the Great North air ambulances, as it lands.
A closer look at the front of G-GNAA. It is an MD Explorer helicopter with a dark green a white livery.
Looking at the rear of the helicopter reveals why it is so suited to air ambulance work: it has no rear tail rotor. This makes it much safer for people to walk around the aircraft. The rotor is replaced with air forced at great speed out of a vent in the tail. This counteracts the spinning of the main rotors and keeps the helicopter stable.
Inside is small, but very tidy and clinical. The orange grab-bags can be seen.
Looking towards the rear of the craft from inside, you can see a seat for the paramedic or doctor caring for the patient on the stretcher. The monitor can also be seen.
The silhouetted view of the underside of the helicopter.
This red helicopter is G-BATC, a Welsh air ambulance.
This is G-NAAA, the North West Air Ambulance. It is based at Blackpool Airport.
Here the same aircraft is pictured with Millom & Walney Island Coastguard teams in a mud rescue exercise.
BG53 LVW This is a yellow Seat that is used by the South Midlands, Coventry an Warwickshire / Northamtonshire Princess Diana national air ambulance. It is used as an air ambulance support car. It is fitted with flashing blue lights and is in the same colour as the helicopter.
A Welsh air ambulance lands on a road closed by a collision. Other ambulance and police vehicles can be seen in the distance.
NV53 UEB This Peugeot van is one of a number of identically liveried support vehicles for the Great North Air Ambulances. It is commonly used for the collection of their charity bags.
The rear view, showing the eye-catching livery that closely matches that of the aircraft (shown below).
Here is the Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance G-LNAA in use.
This is G-NAAS, one of the two great north air ambulances, which is based at Blyth, Northumberland.
This is G-WYPA, one of the two great north air ambulances, in flight. Re-liveried and re-launched in March 2003, this Messerschmitt Bolkow Bohlm is based at Teesside Airport. This is the only air ambulance outside of London to carry a specialist NHS doctor on board as well as a paramedic.
The side view of the helicopter in flight. This air ambulance used to be a police helicopter for West Yorkshire Police from 1989-2001. It was built in Germany and the chief police pilot at the time flew it from the factory to West Yorkshire.
A closer look at the livery of G-WYPA.
This picture shows the first livery of G-NAAS when it was sponsored by Barbour.
Another shot of its livery in the early 1990’s.
G-NAAS: The North East Air Ambulance. These photographs were taken in the early 1990s when the aircraft was based at Kitty Brewster Industrial Estate, Blyth. This air ambulance has seen numerous liveries since its introduction and covered the whole of the North East of England.
The same helicopter in flight.
A grounded G-NAAS.
Another view of G-NAAS
Another view of G-NAAS.
This photo shows the yellow ‘Automobile Association’ livery.
Here are a few pictures of G-NAAS, the Air Ambulance covering the North-East of England:
The cockpit.
A close up.
V43 GLD This is an air support unit Daewoo Matiz. It was donated so the air-paramedics can travel by road if the helicopter is unavailable.
This is G-PASG, a Messerschmitt Bolkow Blohm, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. Still in it’s familiar yellow ‘AA’ livery (even though the sponsorship has ended) it has the same colour scheme as most of the air ambulances in the UK. It’s ‘PAS’ callsign is from its owners Police Aviation Services, now known as Specialist Aviation Services.
A patient who was thrown from a horse in the North York Moors has been airlifted to hospital. They are removed from the air ambulance on a stretcher and placed in a road ambulance for the short drive to the accident and emergency department.
The three-man crew of the helicopter prepare to take off to another emergency in West Yorkshire. While the pilot begins to start the engines, the two paramedics load the equipment into the back. The pilot is employed by the ambulance service but is not medically trained.
The stretcher is pushed through from the back of the helicopter so that the head appears next to the rear-seated paramedic. All of the same equipment found on a road ambulance is to hand, but in fewer numbers to keep the weight down.
The second paramedic makes one last check of the area prior to take-off. The rotors are almost at full-speed as the pilot radios air traffic control to request priority status for the emergency journey.
Immediately after taking-off the helicopter skims over the ground at only a few feet before rising almost vertically.
A rather scenic shot of the air ambulance as it makes haste towards the sun.
The Great North Air Ambulance (G-NAAS) in flight.
The air ambulance upon landing. The co-pilot helps the pilot to land safely.
As the paramedics emerge from the air ambulance, a Durham police officer greets them.
WA58 LDL This ambulance quad bike is marked as “Quad Response” and is operated independently from Bodmin in Cornwall. The bike is a road-legal Can-Am Outlander 650 Max.
M906 STF Event Fire Services operate this rescue ambulance which is hired out for events. It is an imported Chevrolet Chevy Van 20.
The rear view of the Chevrolet ambulance.
CX51 NKP This Land Rover Defender TD5 is used by the workshops of the Welsh Ambulance Service. It is fitted with a blue and an amber flashing light on the roof.
YJ59 OPC This is one of ten Land Rover Discoveries that were new to the YAS area in late 2009. They are used for rapid response duties and allow the possibility of attending calls in inaccessible rural locations or in snow.
The rear view of the Discovery showing the smart livery and thin roof-mounted light bar.
B10 HAA This Volvo V70 is owned by Heathrow Air Ambulance, a private ambulance service. This car carries a standard ambulance colour scheme and a personalised registration plate.