Metro Aviation and BETA Technologies flew BETA’s all-electric ALIA conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) aircraft with Washington County Emergency Medical Services in Brenham this month. The demonstration tested how the aircraft could move disaster-response equipment for an emergency medical services (EMS) system that answers more than 7,000 calls a year across about 700 square miles. It was BETA’s first flight in Texas under the US Department of Transportation’s and Federal Aviation Administration’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program and part of Project Nexus, led by the Texas Department of Transportation.
Metro operates an EC145 for Washington County EMS as part of a comprehensive emergency medical services system. The third-service agency operates separately from local police and fire departments and is dedicated exclusively to the pre-hospital care of the sick and injured. It responds to calls across the county, including the Brazos River and Lake Somerville, and provides emergency and non-emergency transfers, critical care services and rescue paramedic services throughout the community.
The demonstration showed how the ALIA CTOL could move disaster-response equipment alongside the county’s existing helicopter and ground-based emergency response. Through Project Nexus, BETA and Metro are testing how electric aircraft fit into established aviation operations along a route connecting Galveston, where a BETA Charge Cube charging station is online, with Sugar Land and Brenham.
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https://beta.team/stories/metro-aviation-beta-technologies-and-washington-county-ems-fly-electric-aircraft-in-texas-emergency-response-demonstration
(Image: BETA Technologies)