The Caribbean island of Saba, the smallest municipality of the Netherlands, has recently added a Bell 430 air ambulance as the capabilities of the existing Bo105 were deemed less suitable to the current day demands.  Arriving on the island on Wednesday 1st April, the helicopter was met by a delegation including the director of Saba Health Care Foundation Dr. Joka Blaauboer and Island Commissioner Bruce Zagers.   The Dutch Ministry of Health (Ministerie van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport) subsidised the newly arrived craft.

Saba has a population of only around 2,000 and is largely a volcano.  The helicopter is to be based on the nearby sister island of Sint Eustatius which has double Saba’s population, and will ferry patients to Sint-Maarten for treatment.  Whether other nearby islands including Anguilla, St Kitts & Nevis and St Barts could benefit is currently unclear.

The particular aircraft, previously flown by Air St Lukes in Idaho, was superceded there by a smaller Bell 429.  Serial 49025 is now registered in Canada as C-GNHX in the name of National Helicopters of Kleinburg, Ontario. The helicopter was noted at National’s base at Hamilton in March carrying titles “St. Eustatius / Saba Healthcare”

John Burcote – HeliHub.com

Library photo