The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has published Opinion No 08/2022, which proposes a modernisation of the European Union’s aviation regulatory framework for Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS), with the goal of improving safety while keeping the economic impact on HEMS operators to a minimum.
The Opinion proposes revised requirements in respect of:
- flights to/from public interest sites (PISs) located in congested areas;
- helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) flights by day or by night in relation to equipment, training, operating minima, and operating site/hospital site features;
- HEMS requirements for high-altitude operations; and
- a new HEMS concept to cover mountain operations and rescue operations, other than search and rescue (SAR) operations.