Air Methods

Air Methods, Corp.

Type	Public
Traded as	NASDAQ: AIRM
Industry	Air Services, Other
Founded	1980
Headquarters	Centennial Airport[1] Dove Valley CDP, Colorado[2]
Key people	Aaron D. Todd, CEO
Revenue	US$511 Million (FY 2009) [3]
Operating income	US$47.8 Million (FY 2009)[3]
Net income	US$29.0 Million (FY 2009)[3]
Total assets	US$424 Million (FY 2009)[4]
Total equity	US$197 Million (FY 2009)[4]
Number of employees	2,739[5]
Subsidiaries	FSS Airholdings Rocky Mountain Holdings Mercy Air Service LifeNet
Website	airmethods.com
Footnotes / references 2007 Annual Report

Air Methods, Corp. is an American publicly owned emergency medical services helicopter operator with its corporate headquarters on the property of Centennial Airport in Dove Valley CDP, Colorado, United States in the Denver metropolitan area;^[1][2] the headquarters uses an Englewood, Colorado postal address.^[1]

The company began operation in 1980 and by 2013 had flown nearly 150,000 air medical flight hours and completed more than 100,000 patient transports. Since 1991, the company has been publicly traded company under the NASDAQ ticker “AIRM.” The company has more than 4,000 employees, operates a fleet of helicopters (and fixed-wing) aircraft at nearly 300 bases that serve 48 American states.

History

Air Methods purchased CJ Systems Aviation Group, a leading provider of aeromedical transport, in October 2007.^[6]

In 2011 Air Methods acquired Omniflight Helicopters, Inc and operates it as a wholly owned subsidiary. Omniflight Helicopters consisted of over 100 helicopters.^[7]

In July 2011 Air Methods (Air Methods International, Ltd.) entered in a joint venture agreement with Basari Holding, AS and Anka Aerospace & Defense, LLC to form Helistar, AS. The joint venture company is headquartered in Ankara, Turkey.

In October 2012, Air Methods opened their state-of-the-art technologically advanced training center in Aurora, Colorado. Located near the corporate office, the 14,000-square-foot facility has a simulation areas, learning classrooms and office space.

Service Models

Air Methods provides services through three basic programs; Community-Based Model (CBM), Hospital-Based Model (HBM)^[8] and Alternative Delivery Model.^[9] Under both programs Air Methods transports persons requiring intensive medical care from either the scene of an accident or general care hospitals to highly skilled trauma centers or tertiary care centers.

As of 2009, the CBM operated 105 bases at hospitals, fire stations or airports, operating more than 127 helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft and Air Methods employees provide medical care to patients en route.

As of 2009, the HBM delivery model was serving 80 hospital customers in 33 states and operated a fleet of more than 170 hospital-based aircraft and medical care en route is provided by employees or contractors of customer hospitals.

Divisions and services

The United Rotorcraft Division specializes in the design and manufacture of aeromedical and aerospace technology. The Tourism Division comprises Sundance Helicopters, Inc. and Blue Hawaiian Helicopters, which provides helicopter tours and charter flights in the Las Vegas/Grand Canyon region and Hawaii, respectively. Air Methods’ fleet of owned, leased or maintained aircraft features over 450 helicopters and fixed wing aircraft.^[10]

Rocky Mountain Holdings, LLC (RMH), Mercy Air Service, Inc. (Mercy Air), and LifeNet, Inc. (LifeNet) operate as wholly owned subsidiaries of Air Methods.^[11]

The Air Methods Products Division designs, manufactures, and installs aircraft medical interiors and other aerospace or medical transport products.

The Direct Call Transfer Center is a division of Air Methods that coordinates transfers between hospitals and referring centers. It is the center point of coordination between all parties involved in the transfer process.^[12]

AirCom is the dispatching/coordinating/and flight tracking division of Air Methods. It dispatches over 400 aircraft for Air Methods Corporation as well as dispatching and coordinating services for other agencies, including police departments, county departments, ambulance services, and other public service agencies.^[13]

Aircraft

A Bell 412 operated by Mercy Air, a subsidiary of Air Methods

As of 31 December 2013, Air Methods' fleet included 264 company owned aircraft, 136 leased and 55 aircraft owned by customers and operated under contract. Included in that total were 48 single engine helicopters and 1 Piper Saratoga operated by their Tourism division.^[14] Air Methods Fleet of Helicopters includes the:

• Eurocopter AS350 Ecureuil^[15][14]
• Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin^[15][14]
• Eurocopter EC130^[15][14]
• Eurocopter EC135^[15][14]
• Eurocopter EC145^[15][14] (including MBB/Kawasaki BK 117, the previous version)
• Bell 206^[15][14] JetRanger and Bell 407^[15][14]
• Bell 222^[15][14] and Bell 430^[15][14]
• Bell 412^[14]
• Bell 429^[15][14]
• AgustaWestland AW109^[15][14]
• AgustaWestland AW119 Koala^[15][14]
• MD Helicopters MD 902^[15][14]

Fixed Wing Owned and or Operated thru Air Methods

• Beechcraft King Air^[15] 100^[14]
• Beechcraft Super King Air 200^[14]
• Pilatus PC-12^[15][14]
• Cessna 208 Caravan
• Learjet 35^[14]

Accidents

Air Methods, as of 2006, has had a total of 19 accidents. Following a 2006 accident Craig Yale, the vice president of corporate development for Air Methods, stated in a news conference shortly after the accident that, "We fly over 100,000 hours a year, 85,000 missions a year, and in doing so have had very few fatal accidents over a 10-year period."

• In January 2005, an Air Methods helicopter crashed in Washington, D.C. with two dead and one injured, and another crashed in Mississippi killing one.^[16]
• On December 10, 2006 in the 2006 Mercy Air helicopter accident three were killed in a crash a Cajon Pass, California.
• On June 29, 2008, a Bell 407 medical helicopter operated by Air Methods collided with another medical helicopter in Arizona, killing six of the seven aboard both aircraft. Another Air Methods helicopter crashed in May in Wisconsin soon after taking off; three people were killed in that accident: the pilot, flight doctor and flight nurse.^[17]
• On July 28, 2010, LifeNet 12, a Eurocopter AS350B3 crashed in Tucson, Arizona killing all 3 crewmembers aboard. LifeNet 12 based out of Douglas Arizona was en route back to Douglas from Marana Arizona. Witnesses describe the helicopter losing power in flight crashing into the street below. It appears from witnesses that the pilot was able to steer the aircraft away from landing into a house nearby.
• On August 26, 2011 four people (3 crew members and 1 patient) were killed when a LifeNet Eurocopter AS350 based at Rosecrans Airport and connected to Heartland Hospital in St. Joseph, Missouri crashed near Liberty, Missouri. Initial crash reports indicated it had run out of fuel. The helicopter had traveled 45 miles from St. Joseph to Harrison County Community Hospital in Bethany, Missouri to pick up a patient. It did not refuel before traveling another 70 miles en route to its intended destination at Liberty Hospital. It was reported to be within a mile of landing for fuel at Midwest National Air Center in Mosby, Missouri (near Liberty) when it crashed.^[18][19] In 2013 the NTSB received information indicating that texting may have been a contributing cause to the accident, making it the first time texting has been found to occur during a fatal air accident.^[20]

See also

• 2006 Mercy Air helicopter accident
• ARCH Air Medical Service

References

External links

• Air Methods official site