President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov on Thursday in Ashgabat got acquainted with the new Ansat ambulance helicopter designed to provide emergency ambulance to the population. The Russia-based Kazan Helicopter Plant produced the helicopter was upon order of the Türkmenhowaýollary (Turkmen Airlines) Agency.
Reporting on the main technical characteristics of the helicopter, the Minister of Healthcare and Medical Industry Nurmuhammet Amannepesov said the new helicopter is intended to provide urgent medical care in urban settings and to promptly transport patients to specialized clinics, the country’s official media reports.
The medical compartment of the Ansat helicopter has a mobile electrocardiograph and a defibrillator, infusiomats for administering solutions, equipment for artificial respiration, and automatic aspirators. The helicopter is also equipped with a video laryngoscope and endotracheal tubes allowing to provide the patient with oxygen, according to the report.
The Ansat with a 510 km flight range can reach maximum speed of 275 km per hour. Additional equipment for landing allows the Ansat helicopter to land in hard-to-reach places.
The Moscow-based Russian Helicopters Holding announced in its Friday press release that the company's Kazan Helicopter Plant delivered the Ansat and Mi-17-1W ambulance helicopters to Turkmenistan. The company added that both machines will be used for medical evacuation of injured and critically ill patients.
The contract for the supply of the helicopters was signed between the Kazan Helicopter Plant and the Türkmenhowaýollary Agency on March 31, 2020. In accordance with the contract, both helicopters are supplied to Turkmenistan with medical modules and medical equipment on board, and anti-burn kits.
Additional fuel tanks are also installed on the Mi-17-1W helicopter to increase its flight range.
"We hope that the high performance characteristics of the Ansat helicopter will be appreciated, and this delivery will serve as a starting point for our further cooperation,” the CEO of Kazan Helicopter Plant Alexey Belykh said in the statement. “Ansats and Mi-8/17 series helicopters proved to be excellent in performing air ambulance services in Russia. We are glad to share the accumulated experience with our colleagues from Turkmenistan and supply them with the most modern equipment."
Within the framework of the contract with the Türkmenhowaýollary Agency, the Kazan Helicopter Plant also trained 30 Turkmen pilots and specialists of the engineering and technical staff at its aviation training center.
During the inspection of the Ansat helicopter, the President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov instructed the Chairman of the Türkmenhowaýollary agency Dovran Saburov and the Minister Nurmuhammet Amannepesov to study the possibility of purchasing such equipment for the country's velayats after practical testing of the new helicopter.
