Ultralight eVTOL Aircraft Joins 911 Response in Rural North Carolina | Aviation International News

Ultralight eVTOL Joins 911 Response in Rural N.C.

Paramedic pilot reached one patient 20 minutes before the ambulance

A Pivotal BlackFly in Hyde County Emergency Services livery, N909HB, sits on grass beside a rural driveway. — A Pivotal BlackFly in Hyde County Emergency Services livery, N909HB, sits on grass beside a rural driveway. Hyde County EMS says a flight-trained paramedic flew the single-seat eVTOL to two live 911 calls, reaching one patient roughly 20 minutes ahead of the ground ambulance.

By Hanneke Weitering • Science & Technology Editor

August 13, 2026

A paramedic in rural North Carolina has flown a single-seat eVTOL aircraft to two live 911 calls. The partners behind the project say the paramedic reached one patient roughly 20 minutes ahead of the ground ambulance, in what they call the first use of an eVTOL in routine emergency medical response in the U.S.

Hyde County Emergency Medical Services (Hyde County EMS), emergency medical training and consulting company Code Blue Resources, and ultralight eVTOL aircraft manufacturer Pivotal jointly announced the flights on August 11, five months after they unveiled the proof-of-concept project. The paramedic flew a BlackFly, the design that preceded Pivotal’s Helix production aircraft.

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