Norwegian Air Ambulance
From the dense metropolitan cities to highest peaks of Scandinavia in Arctic conditions, Norwegian Air Ambulance operates in one of the most demanding environments.
“The combination of advanced HEMS, specialized rescue tasks and IFR capabilities makes our operation both diverse and operationally demanding,” shared Andreas Hjert, NLA’s Deputy Head of Training and Chief Instructor for AW139.
Norwegian Air Ambulance, or Norsk Luftambulanse (NLA), operates across both Norway and Denmark and conducts frequent cross-border operations into Sweden and Finland. The organization has been an active helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) operator for nearly 50 years in Norway, and together with the Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation has pioneered solutions in improving HEMS operations.
“Although Norway and Denmark are neighboring Scandinavian countries with highly developed healthcare systems, their HEMS operations have evolved to meet very different operational needs.”
In Denmark, the focus is on rapid transport, hospital specialization and advanced prehospital critical care, taking advantage of the country's compact geography and dense healthcare network. Whereas in Norway, the challenging geography, long distances, demanding weather conditions and rescue operations makes it “one of the most demanding civilian helicopter operations in the world.”
To meet the operational demands across both countries, NLA operates a mixed fleet of Airbus H135 T3H, Airbus H145, and Leonardo AW139 helicopters. In Norway, the fleet consists of all three aircraft types, with 14 helicopters deployed across 13 bases. While in Denmark they operate four helicopters from four HEMS bases with both Airbus models. In total, however, NLA maintains a fleet of 25 helicopters, providing the resilience and flexibility required for maintenance, reserve aircraft, and uninterrupted 24/7 operations.
“This mixed fleet allows us to tailor the aircraft to operational requirements with respect to mission profile, payload, range and operating environment.”
At NLA, tasks are conducted with a three-person crew; a pilot, a HEMS Technical Crew Member, and a physician. Crews are available 24/7, and operations are conducted under both VFR and IFR, including PBN 0.3 in all phases of flight, Low Visibility Operations (LVO), HELI SA CAT I, Airborne Radar Approaches, and NVIS. In Norway, they perform additional selected Search and Rescue tasks, such as avalanche rescue and human external cargo operations.
Training is an integral part of our operation
While on duty, crews conduct a great deal of practical training to maintain proficiency in NLA’s wide variety of tasks. This involves regular joint training with emergency services, police, fire and rescue organizations, and SAR partners. In addition, all crew members complete recurrent training required by both the aviation authorities and customers, including Aeromedical Crew Resource Management (ACRM).
For HEMS operations, simulator training is about far more than maintaining flying skills. It enables crews to practice rare but high-consequence scenarios in a safe environment while strengthening crew coordination, communication and decision-making.
“Many of the abnormal and emergency situations we train for simply cannot be practiced safely in an aircraft. The Full Flight Simulator allows us to expose crews to these scenarios repeatedly in a realistic environment without compromising safety.”
All simulator training is conducted in a Level D Full Flight Simulator, with a complete cockpit crew (pilot and HEMS Technical Crew Member) and, where appropriate, also includes a physician, reflecting the way NLA conducts their tasks.
Andreas explains that their “simulator program covers all aspects of our operation, including IFR, NVIS, Human External Cargo operations and scenario-based crew training using our own custom databases and visuals.”
Coptersafety and NLA have enjoyed a close partnership since 2017, which has allowed NLA to “continuously refine and develop the training program to keep pace with our evolving operational requirements.”
Over the near decade of cooperation, Coptersafety has supported NLA’s operational training requirements with flexibility and adaptability for specific needs, as well as the development and integration of custom visual environments and databases in the simulators.
“Because many of our operations are highly location-dependent, the use of custom databases and visuals allows us to train in recognizable operational environments. This significantly enhances the realism of the training and allows scenarios to accurately reflect the way we operate every task, substantially increasing the overall training value. Resulting in improved preparedness, safety and operational efficiency.”
Norwegian Air Ambulance understands and values the importance of simulator training, as “every aspect of our training is ultimately focused on one objective: ensuring the best possible outcome for our patients while maintaining the highest level of safety for our crews.”
We value Coptersafety as a trusted partner that understands the complexity of our operation and supports us in maintaining the high standards required for HEMS operations.
This was written with comments from Andreas Hjert from Norwegian Air Ambulance, where he is the Deputy Head of Training, Chief Instructor for the AW139, and TRI/TRE for H135 T3H, H145, and AW139.
Photos of AW139 and in simulator provided by Andreas Hjert, photos of H145 by Kristian Presnal.
