Amongst stormy skies, Vanderbilt’s new LifeFlight 1 helicopter makes its first landing on the helipad Saturday at the Vanderbilt Medical Center SkyPort with Loren Courtney, pilot, and Wilson Matthews, R.N., chief flight nurse, onboard. More than 50 were present for the event./Mike Cobb
Flying Colors: 20th anniversary of Vanderbilt LifeFlight culminates with arrival of new helicopter
Vanderbilt LifeFlight celebrated its 20th birthday last week with a $5.4-million gift — the arrival of the new LifeFlight 1, a state-of-the-art helicopter.
In March, the Medical Center board approved the purchase of three new helicopters at a cost of $5.4 million each. Vanderbilt LifeFlight is the first hospital-based air ambulance program in North America to utilize the American Eurocopter EC-145. LifeFlight has safely completed more than 20,000 flights in its 20-year history.
The EC-145 has been called by aircraft industry experts one of the safest, advanced helicopters on the market.
It is equipped with IFR (Instrument Flight Rated) capability, allows pilots to fly in inclement weather; is cockpit readied for the use of night vision goggles and has the ability to shutdown the engines in 30 seconds.
It took two days for the new helicopter to reach Nashville. Wilson Matthews, R.N., chief flight nurse, and Loren Courtney, pilot, and interim aviation manager, ferried the aircraft from the American Eurocopter factory in Dallas to Shreveport, La. on the first day of flight, and from Shreveport to Nashville on the second day, landing at the Vanderbilt SkyPort at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital Chaplain the Rev. Raye Nell Dyer, blessed the helicopter during a brief ceremony. It is expected to be placed into service by mid-August, at the Lebanon, Tenn., base. The two other new helicopters will arrive in the next few months.