Mark Huber is an aviation industry veteran who has worked in the flight training, aircraft sales, aircraft component, and airport development businesses. He has flight time in more than 50 different and diverse aircraft, including helicopters, aerobatic aircraft, vintage warbirds, jet fighters, business jets and turboprops, and transport-category aircraft. He has jumped out of several of these—on purpose—with a parachute. His defense and aviation journalism has been published in a variety of national and international periodicals.

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Mark Huber

Leonardo has logged the first commercial and EMS order for its IFR-certified AW119Kx single-engine helicopter. Life Link III, which already operates 10 VFR-equipped AW119Kxs, placed an order for one IFR-equipped helicopter and optioned a second. Delivery is expected from the AW119 final assembly line in Philadelphia in third-quarter 2021.

 


Operating from bases in Minnesota and Wisconsin, Life Link III has amassed more than 21,000 hours on its AW119Kx fleet since 2014.&nbsp;Company CEO Steve Sterner said, “Our decision to become the first civilian user of the IFR-certified AW119 fully supports our mission of providing safe and effective air medical transport.”

 


Leonardo's IFR-certified AW119Kx gained FAA approval in July 2019 and is the platform selected for the U.S. Navy’s new primary helicopter training aircraft, the TH-73A.&nbsp;The aircraft is fitted with Genesys Aerosystems glass panel avionics and redundant flight systems typically found in twin-engine aircraft.&nbsp;The initial contract for the Navy was awarded earlier this year and covers 32 aircraft.&nbsp;Subsequent individual-year contracts are expected to bring total deliveries to 130 aircraft by 2024, with a value of $648.1 million.

 


This week's order for the first commercial IFR AW119Kx adds to Leonardo’s share of the North American helicopter EMS market, which already numbers 113 across a variety of models, including the AW119, AW109, AW169, and AW139.

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