AMTC 2018: Kopter’s SH09 perfectly suited for Helicopter Emergency Medical Services

Kopter is very pleased to showcase its SH09 helicopter in HEMS configuration at the Air Medical Transport Conference (AMTC) in Phoenix, AZ, October 22-24th. The SH09 stands out as a new generation, single turbine helicopter with safety, cost efficiency and mission capability above and beyond known standards. Aspects that are all critical to any air medical transport mission today.

Central to any EMS helicopter is the fitting and customization that provide the medical crews with unobstructed full patient body access and the inclusion of dedicated, and sometimes bulky medical equipment needed to aid and save lives. To design, create and offer this crucial medical interior, Kopter has collaborated with Metro Aviation located in Shreveport, Louisiana to fit the SH09 with a comprehensive and effective EMS interior.

Given that Kopter plans to certify a 4-Axis autopilot as the core of a Single-Pilot-IFR system, add cabin-volume space that can only be found in larger light and intermediate twin-engine aircrafts and the SH09 will certainly merit central casting as a Game changer. A central piece of the SPIFR/autopilot capability is the new Garmin G3000H avionics suite. This modern and latest generation of avionics deck will significantly reduce pilot workload, increase pilot situational awareness and boost the aircraft operational safety margins. To benefit operators and owners alike, the G3000H will be part of the standard baseline offered with the helicopter, ensuring that the SH09 provides the highest level of avionics capability and functionality in the market. The SH09 will feature dual landscape-oriented displays and a single touchscreen controller.

Additional unique features of the SH09 include a very high set tail-boom which allows for person(s) in the range of 6’ tall to walk under the tail-boom at the rear clam-shell loading area without the need to bend over or remove any flight headgear. This large unobstructed ingress provides for efficient patient loading and offloading, to include very large patients and the required electrical or hydraulic mechanism to facilitate their movement.

The SH09 comes standard with large sliding cabin doors both port and starboard which offer yet more options for loading and off-loading crews and/or patients. Additionally, the cabin floor in the SH09 has been designed to be modular in that it does substantiate as a structural component and as such can be replaced as needed with the flooring required by customers.

Kopter North America President of Sales, Marketing and Customer Support, Larry Roberts, encapsulates the SH09 Program as follows: “In more than 20 years in this industry I have seldom seen such a dedicated certification process for a helicopter that clearly brings so much to the table for our customers, their customers and to all the future patients to be served with the support of a Kopter SH09 aircraft. We are convinced that our helicopter will be an important tool for medical crews but also a vital element for those patients in need of airborne medical services.”