Engineering for You: Survival Flight

A machine's technical utilization is not its definition. What defines a feat of technology is the purpose to which it is applied. The engineering marvels of the last 50 years are only as marvelous as the humans that create, operate, and benefit from them. Take the Airbus EC-155B1 helicopter, for example. A rotor-wing aircraft engineered for the possibility to carry 13 passengers and 2 crew members with a ferry range of roughly 985 km at a speed of up to 201 mph. While the uses of this aircraft are numerous, its definition is found within its operation and service as an integral part of the University of Michigan Health System's Survival Flight team. For the Survival Flight pilots and nurses, the EC155B1 is a tool equipped to help patients in need, getting them the care they need in the field or to a hospital faster than ground transport could. For the patients, the Maize and Blue helicopter signifies more than a feat of engineering but hope, safety, and survival.
Michigan survival flight. Michigan medicine.