LifeFlight Eagle's New Bell 407 Helicopter Arrives in Clinton, MO

Clinton, Missouri – April 24, 2008 -- LifeFlight Eagle is proud to announce the addition of a new Bell 407 helicopter to its fleet.  The new aircraft, whose call sign is 505LE and commonly known as Eagle 5, was based this week at the Golden Valley Memorial Hospital base location in Clinton, Missouri.

 
LifeFlight Eagle ordered the $2.3 million aircraft from Bell Helicopter during the 2007 fundraising campaign to build its new base location in Clinton. 
“Purchasing a helicopter is not nearly the same thing as buying a car,” says Andrew Umland, base supervisor at LifeFlight Eagle’s Clinton base.  “The time from purchase to delivery is lengthy because of the required medical configuration of the cabin and the needed approval of the FAA.”

LifeFlight Eagle also required enhanced avionics on the aircraft.  The total retrofit, which took place at Edwards and Associates, a subsidiary of Bell, exceeded six hundred thousand dollars.  The aircraft was transported to Kansas City on Monday from Bristol, Tennessee, and is now in service at Clinton.

The aircraft is fitted with tracking equipment that allows LifeFlight Eagle’s dispatch center to track its every move as well as with state-of-the-art XM satellite weather reporting equipment.

LifeFlight Eagle is a non-profit organization serving a 150-mile radius around Kansas City.

LifeFlight Eagle – 500 NW Richards Road, Kansas City, Missouri, 64116