[NickN]

AN AIR ambulance pilot transporting two critically injured children was forced to refer to a flight manual after losing power during a landing at The Children's Hospital, Westmead.

The new $15 million Augusta AW139 helicopter, launched by Premier Nathan Rees in November, twice failed to land during a storm on Sunday, March 14.

On the third attempt it lost power to navigation instruments.

The pilot then had to refer to the helicopter manual and switch on a back-up navigational system. The landing was abandoned and the aircraft was flown to Sydney airport.

The children, who had been in a car accident that afternoon at Baradine, were then taken in separate ambulances 40km across the city back to the children's hospital.

The NSW Ambulance Service has told The Daily Telegraph the high-tech aircraft was hindered because it was night and there was a storm.

"The aircraft made two descents and . . . on each descent the pilot was unable to safely (see) the ground," a spokesman said.

"On attempting the third and final descent the aircraft suffered a loss of one of the three redundant sets of navigation instruments."

The pilot was then forced to refer to the helicopter's manual.

"The Ambulance Service NSW commends the pilot for referring to the manual," the spokesman said.

The mother of the two children declined to comment yesterday. At least one of the children remains in The Children's Hospital, Westmead.

The aircraft in question was immediately taken out of service and the problem had since been fixed, the NSW Ambulance spokesman said.

The $270 million fleet of helicopters has been plagued by problems since the State Government snubbed the long-serving Westpac Lifesaver and NRMA CareFlight services for Canadian company CHC last year.

The Daily Telegraph revealed in January that helicopter crews were collapsing with heat exhaustion on rescue flights because temperatures in the non-airconditioned cabins sometimes hit 50C. The extreme heat had caused crew members to vomit.

Last November, Mr Rees launched the first of three Augustas by saying: "It is a phenomenal aircraft which will allow our expert paramedics the greatest chance of saving lives and helping patients."

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegrap...001021,00.html