A SCOTTISH AIR AMBULANCE OPERATED BY the Gama Aviation firm was delayed from responding to an emergency call for two hours Sunday because they couldn’t get anyone to refuel the aircraft.

The call came from the Orkney Islands around 2:30 am that a child with a suspected case of meningitis needed immediate transport to a mainland hospital.  The air ambulance based in Glasgow had just returned from another flight when the call came in and they needed refueling before leaving on the next mission.  The plane had a pilot, a paramedic, and a specialist team from the hospital consisting of a doctor, a nurse and a load of equipment on board during the delay.

Gama’s fuel contract is with Signature Flight Support at Glasgow Airport, but when they called for a fuel truck, none was to be had.  Signature couldn’t produce a driver for the truck, claiming that their duty driver had changed his cell phone number without telling them and there was no one else readily available.

Gama next tried to get fuel from the BP terminal which is constantly open at the airport, but BP refused to drive a truck across the airport because they don’t have a contract with the Scottish Ambulance Service.  Gama offered to taxi over to the BP terminal, but they still refused to service the plane. 

Finally after nearly two hours, Signature got a driver to the terminal and the twin-engine Beech King was fueled.  The plane completed its mission and the last word from the hospital was that the child is doing “just fine.”

Naturally, politicians are outraged and are demanding investigations and “answers.”

You can read more in the Glasgow Daily Record HERE.
The Evening Times has MORE.

Trackback This Post | Subscribe to the comments through RSS Feed