DENVER, July 25, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Air Methods Corporation (Nasdaq: AIRM ), the global leader in air medical transportation, today announced it has entered into an agreement with Appareo Systems to purchase 150 Vision 1000 flight data monitoring (FDM) devices. These devices will allow Air Methods to capture a variety of critical flight data and then analyze the data as part of its FDM program. The Company currently has 41 aircraft equipped with Appareo flight data recorders.
"We are pleased to continue our commitment to a comprehensive flight data monitoring program," said Aaron Todd, chief executive officer, Air Methods. "We believe this program provides objective and actionable evidence to help us proactively mitigate risks. By conducting routine analysis of this flight data over a period of time, we will be able to see if undesired behaviors and trends emerge. If so, we can make changes to our training or procedures before these behaviors lead to an incident."
The Vision 1000 system captures event sets such as time, date, longitude, latitude, altitude, ground speed, vertical speed, heading, pitch and roll attitude, pitch, roll and yaw rates, as well as normal, lateral, and longitudinal acceleration. The data is stored on a crash-hardened memory module as well as a removable secure digital card. These incoming Vision 1000 systems are slated to be installed on Eurocopter AS350, EC130 and Bell 407 aircraft already in the fleet. In addition to these 150 units, the Vision 1000 system is already standard equipment on all new-delivered AS350s. In December 2012, Air Methods committed to purchasing six new AS350s. Installing flight data recording devices and establishing a structured flight data monitoring program were items included in the 2009 National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommendations to public Helicopter Emergency Medical Services operators.
Air Methods Corporation ( www.airmethods.com ) is the global leader in air medical transportation. The Air Medical Services Division is the largest provider of air medical transport services for hospitals and one of the largest community-based providers of air medical services. United Rotorcraft Division specializes in the design and manufacture of aeromedical and aerospace technology. The Tourism Division is comprised of Sundance Helicopters, Inc., which provides helicopter tours and charter flights, primarily focusing on Grand Canyon tours. Air Methods' fleet of owned, leased or maintained aircraft features over 400 helicopters and fixed wing aircraft.
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