New helicopter for the region: As of today, an H145 with a five-blade rotor and winch is in service at the Freiburg station of DRF Luftrettung, a first for civil air rescue in Germany. Thanks to the fifth rotor blade, the new Christoph 54 is even quieter in the air, which benefits patients and crew. With this change of type, DRF Luftrettung is pushing ahead with the modernization of its fleet.
The Freiburg crew was able to put the new H145 helicopter with five-blade rotor and winch through its paces last weekend. Just in time for the spring winch training with the Black Forest and Württemberg mountain rescue services and the DLRG Breisgau, the machine was available to the air rescuers. “Eleven DRF Luftrettung stations are already flying with the new five-blade technology. However, we are the first to use an H145 five-blade with rescue winch from today. This is also a first for civil air rescue in Germany,” explains Oliver Barth, station manager and pilot of DRF Luftrettung in Freiburg. “Our expectations were not disappointed. We are very satisfied, the new helicopter is great”. Not only the crew, but also the patients will benefit from the pattern change: The helicopter is not only less vibrating, but also has a higher payload capacity. As a result, more fuel can be refueled, which increases the range and is advantageous, for example, for urgent transports of seriously ill patients between clinics.
This press release was prepared and distributed by DRF Luftrettung.
