Northern Ireland Aviation Enthusiast's Forum
General Aviation Discussion => General Aviation Discussion => Topic started by: The Gaffer on December 29, 2020, 04:32:09 PM
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An interesting piece of info
"Did you know? Air Ambulance helicopters within the UK have a call sign that is made up of three parts. The first is the callsign “Helimed”. The second part of the callsign is a number which uniquely identifies the exact aircraft – so the prestigious call sign Helimed23 relates to the Air Ambulance NI aircraft. The 3rd and final piece of information conveys the type of flight. The two main types are "Alpha" and "Echo". The "Alpha" callsign is used en route to an incident, or when a patient is being conveyed to hospital. When the "Alpha" callsign is used Air Traffic Control now know we are on a time critical operational flight, which is similar to putting a ‘blue light’ on top of our aircraft –we are given priority by air traffic controllers and other air space users were safely possible. The "Echo" callsign would be used when the Air Ambulance is returning to our HEMS base. We owe on-going thanks to all of the air traffic controllers who help us ensure the shortest journey time to reach our patients quickly.🚁"
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To add , there is also a Z or Zulu suffix , which denotes that the aircraft is doing training .