The Wiltshire Air Ambulance helicopter is offline again for more repair work.
It comes just a month after the Bell 429 aircraft returned from a period of nearly ten weeks on the ground for servicing and maintenance at the end of 2023.
Between the 27 September and 3 December, charity medics could only respond to 999 calls using their critical care cars and relied on the support of neighbouring air ambulances.
On 4 January, the helicopter was again flown to Thruxton Airport – near Andover in Hampshire – where work is undertaken.
A spokesperson for Wiltshire Air Ambulance confirmed that the aircraft is out of action as engineers replace a part in the autopilot system.
The helicopter is expected to return to base and be responding to emergencies again by the end of this week.
For now, medics will revert to using critical care cars to attend life-threatening calls and again call in neighbouring air ambulances where a helicopter is required.
