Pel-Air Aviation has completed investigations into cabin pressurisation incidents

The company that provides the planes and employs the pilots for Ambulance Victoria has responded to recent safety incidents and says it is bracing for an “extremely challenging” next few months.

Ambulance Victoria sources said they believed overstretched pilots had not carried out pressurisation checks because they were tired. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Ambulance Victoria’s aircraft provider says pilot fatigue did not cause incidents in which cabin pressurisation was not set correctly.

The Herald Sun revealed last week that there had been three incidents, two in October and another last month.

In two of the cases, breathing equipment dropped from the ceiling of fixed-wing planes.

Ambulance Victoria sources said they believed overstretched pilots had not carried out pressurisation checks because they were tired.

Pel-Air Aviation, which provides planes and employs the pilots, said it had completed investigations into October’s incidents and was well-advanced on examining what happened last month.

The company said in a statement that its report, reviewed by an auditor from Ambulance Victoria, determined fatigue was unlikely to be a factor.

The statement said every pilot was assessed for fatigue before their shift using a biomedical model which considered the cumulative effect of their duties in the previous fortnight.

“No pilot can be put on duty if their fatigue score is below the minimum safe level according to the predictive model. In all three incidents, the pilots had a score of over 90 with the minimum threshold at 77,” Pel-Air said.

Pel-Air also moved to address difficulties in finding pilots.

It said there was a lingering impact from COVID this was manifesting itself in a shortage of fixed-wing, both in the industry and internationally.

“We understand the concerns of the informant but, having completed over 12 years of flying or AV with impeccable reliability and an unblemished safety record, we believe that Pel-Air has earned the right to be trusted and relied upon,” the statement said.

The company said within months it would deliver a new fleet of four aeromedical aircraft to build AV’s capability.

“Pel-Air does not deny that the next few months will be extremely challenging as it prepares for the brand new fleet while at the same time conducting the training of the crew for the state-of-the-art aircraft. However, Pel-Air has always been able to work collaboratively with AV to overcome all issues in the past and believes this support will continue to assist Pel-Air in overcoming the challenges in the next few months,” its statement said.