Child Flight
Encyclopedia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
service dedicated to the emergency
Emergency vehicle
An emergency vehicle is any vehicle that is designated and authorized to respond to an emergency. These vehicles are usually operated by designated agencies, often part of the government, but also run by charities, non-governmental organizations and some commercial companies...
transport of sick children. It operates two twin-engined instrument-flight rated helicopters. As a not-for-profit organisation, the service relies on community support and corporate sponsorship to complement a government operating grant.
The service is located at the Newborn Emergency Transport Service (NETS) base at Westmead
Westmead
Westmead nay refer to:*Westmead, New South Wales, a city in Australia*USS Westmead , also spelled , a United States Navy cargo ship in commission from 1918 to 1919See also*West Mead...
in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. It is the preferred helicopter transport vehicle for NETS
NETS
NETS is an acronym for newborn emergency transport service or system. Such services provide critical care transport for newborn babies requiring care not available in the hospital of birth. Some provide other services; such as outreach education, return transport and coordination of high-risk...
, the emergency medical transport service for newborns
Newborn transport
Newborn transport is used to move premature and other sick infants from hospitals without specialist, intensive care facilities require for optimal care of the baby to hospitals with neonatal intensive care and other specialist services...
children. The service employs ten pilots, an aircraft maintenance engineer and fund-raising and office staff.
Founded by Bart Bassett
Bart Bassett
Bart Bassett MP, an Australian politician, is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing the electorate of Londonderry for the Liberal Party since 26 March 2011...
, Dr. Andrew Berry and Jeremy Ovens to supply air transport to NETS, the service started with a twin-engined BO 105 helicopter on 19 November 1989. Within twelve months, a new BK 117 was delivered from the factory in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
as the flagship of the service.
In 2000, a second helicopter was purchased to improve service continuity to NETS. It is a twin-engined Eurocopter AS 365 N2 'Dauphin'
Eurocopter Dauphin
The Eurocopter SA 365/AS365 Dauphin 2 is a medium-weight multipurpose twin-engine helicopter manufactured by Eurocopter .-Design and development:...
with tricycle retractable landing gear and high-speed, long distance performance.
In June 2010, another aircraft will be introduced into the fleet; a Bell 412
Bell 412
The Bell 412 is a utility helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It is a development of the Bell 212 model, the major difference being the composite four-blade main rotor.-Design and development:...
EP which will provide more working space, carrying capacity and operating range than has previously been available from the BK 117.