air ambulances in the united kingdom air ambulances in the united kingdom air ambulance services in the united kingdom provide emergency medical functions, patient transport between specialist centres, or medical repatriation. services are provided by a mixture of organisations, operating either helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft. all emergency air ambulance helicopters in england, wales, and northern ireland are operated by charities, while scotland has one charity service in addition to its two nhs-funded helicopters. fixed-wing air ambulances, used for patient transport, may be government or privately operated. newquayexetereaglescottcoventryeast midlandsoxforddoncaster sheffieldhenstridgenorwichcambridgeearls colnenorth wealdlangwathbyeaglescliffealmondsburythruxtonredhillraf waddingtonraf northoltwytonraf cosfordstrenshamtatenhillblackpoolbartonraf bensonllanelliwelshpoolcaernarfoncardiffoutmarshraf topcliffenostelloperational bases in england and wales history the first air ambulance services in the uk commenced in scotland in november 1933, with a flight from wideford airport, kirkwall orkney. the first night time ambulance flight was undertaken in february 1939, from wideford to the island of sanday, using car headlights to help take off and landing. the aircraft used was a general aircraft monospar, registration g-acew, operated by highland airways. the first air ambulance charity to operate a helicopter was cornwall air ambulance in 1987. emergency air ambulances emergency air ambulances are generally helicopter based, and used to respond to medical emergencies in support of local ambulance services. in england, wales, and northern ireland, all of these services are charitably funded, and either directly owned by the charity, or operated under contract with a private provider. the ambulance staff and doctors crewing these flights are generally seconded from the local nhs ambulance service and nhs hospitals. in scotland, there is the only publicly-funded air ambulance service, with the scottish ambulance service operating two airbus helicopters h145 helicopters and two fixed wing aircraft in this role, alongside two charity-funded eurocopter ec135 helicopters, operated by scotland's charity air ambulance. organisation radio call-sign aircraft registration photograph cornwall air ambulance helimed 01 aw169 g-crwl the air ambulance service derbyshire, leicestershire & rutland air ambulance helimed 54 aw109sp g-taas warwickshire & northamptonshire air ambulance helimed 53 aw109sp g-wnas children's air ambulance (emergency patient transfers only) helimed 80 2 x aw169 g-picu helimed 81 g-tcaa devon air ambulance helimed 70 h145 g-daas helimed 71 ec135 g-dvaa dorset and somerset air ambulance helimed 10 aw169 g-dsaa east anglian air ambulance helimed 85 2 x h145 g-resu helimed 88 g-hemc essex & herts air ambulance helimed 07 md 902 g-ehem helimed 55 aw169 g-hhem great north air ambulance helimed 58 3 × as365 n2 g-nhaa helimed 63 g-nhab dedicated spare g-nhac preparing for operation as365 n3 g-nhad great western air ambulance helimed 65 ec135 g-gwac hampshire and isle of wight air ambulance helimed 56 h135 g-hiow air ambulance kent surrey sussex helimed 60 2 x aw169 g-ksst helimed 21 g-kssc dedicated spare md 902 g-kssa lincolnshire & nottinghamshire air ambulance helimed 29 aw169 g-lncc london's air ambulance helimed 27helimed 28 spare unit for major incidents 2 x md 902 (one spare) g-ehms g-lndn magpas air ambulance helimed 66 aw169 g-mgps midlands air ambulance helimed 03 h145 g-rmaa helimed 06 2 x ec135 g-omaa helimed 09 g-hwaa north west air ambulance helimed 08 3 x ec135 g-nwaa helimed 72 g-nwae helimed 75 g-nwem northern ireland air ambulance helimed 23 2 x aw109sp g-hemz g-rscu scotland's charity air ambulance helimed 76 2 x ec135 g-scaa helimed 79 g-emaa scottish air ambulance helimed 02 2 x h145 g-isas helimed 05 g-gsas gama xxx 2 x king air 200c g-sasc g-sasd thames valley air ambulance helimed 24 ec135 g-tvly wales air ambulanceand children's wales air ambulance helimed 57 3 x h145 g-wenu helimed 59 g-wobr helimed 61 g-wrol helimed 67 (children's) 1 x ec135 g-wasc wiltshire air ambulance helimed 22 bell 429 g-wlts yorkshire air ambulance helimed 98 2 x h145 g-yoaa helimed 99 g-yaac patient transport operations privately operated fixed wing air ambulance from the uk there are also a number of public and private patient transport operations in the uk, generally using fixed wing aircraft, and which are part of a system of moving patients between points of care, or as part of a repatriation to the uk. there is a helicopter based patient transfer service, focused on paediatric cases, called the children's air ambulance, which first flew in 2012. the scottish ambulance service operates two fixed wing aircraft in this role, with patients flown to the mainland uk for treatment. in 2015, the neonatal, paediatric and adult emergency care and retrieval operations were brought together with the scottish ambulance service and utilise the aircraft and road ambulances for this purpose. they are co-located at the scottish ambulance air base at glasgow international airport. the isle of man department of health and social care operates a fixed-wing air ambulance for patient transport between the island and mainland hospitals. the channel islands of guernsey and jersey have a beechcraft king air b200 air ambulance, operated by gama aviation since july 2020, that transports patients to england for treatment that they cannot receive on the islands. in addition, aurigny operate a medical evacuation service from alderney to guernsey. notable accidents involving air ambulances on 19 may 1996, a britten-norman bn-2 islander aircraft operated by loganair for the scottish ambulance service crashed short of the runway at lerwick/tingwall airport in shetland while turning to final approach at night during strong and gusting winds. the pilot was killed, and the physician and flight nurse were injured. there was no patient on board at the time. on 26 july 1998, the three man crew of the kent air ambulance died when the aircraft collided with power lines and crashed in a field in burham, near rochester airport. initial investigation established no definitive cause for the crash, due to the fireball produced on impact. controversy ensued when the pilot's employers, police aviation services, denied liability. on 19 february 2004, following a civil case brought by the pilot's widow to the high court in manchester, it ruled that the crash was caused by mechanical failure, not as suggested flying low for fun, and ordered compensation to be paid. on 14 june 2000, four passengers and one pilot were killed when a piper pa-31-350 navajo chieftain, chartered for a medical transfer from the isle of man, crashed on approach to liverpool airport. on 15 march 2005, a britten-norman bn-2 islander aircraft operated by loganair crashed into the sea while descending toward campbeltown airport in western scotland. the aircraft was operating an air ambulance flight on behalf of the scottish ambulance service. the pilot and paramedic both died in the crash.