The newly rebranded Wiltshire and Bath Air Ambulance helicopter has been unavailable for Christmas shouts – despite having been offline for servicing for more than ten weeks.
The Bell 429 GlobalRanger was on the ground at Thruxton Aerodrome between 7 October and 15 December for routine maintenance and a metallic yellow and green paint job.
However, after just a week back home in Semington, the aircraft was returned to Thruxton on 23 December – over an issue with its onboard fault detection system.
Critical care medics have been responding to emergencies in rapid response vehicles instead.
While the two cars – a BMW X5 and Volvo XC90 – carry the same kit as the helicopter, the crew have to rely on neighbouring air ambulances if a patient requires an urgent flight to hospital.
A charity spokesperson said: “An intermittent issue with the fault detection system has been diagnosed and a new part has arrived in the country.
“We are working to get the maintenance completed as early as possible, given the understandable availability restrictions due to the Christmas and New Year period.”
