Press Release

Christoph 53 is operational from sunrise to sunset and is manned by a pilot, an emergency doctor and an emergency paramedic.

Issued by DRF Luftrettung.

August 14, 2023

There was a change at the Mannheim station of German air rescue provider DRF Luftrettung on August 13, 2023 when an Airbus Helicopters H145 with a five-blade rotor began operations as Christoph 53.

Immediately after replacing the previous helicopter at the station, the new Christoph 53 had a double assignment. For helicopter pilot Markus Becker, who was on duty that day, the advantages of the machine are clear: "Thanks to the fifth rotor blade, the H145 is even more stable in the air, which means significantly less vibration for the interior, a brilliant difference!"

Patients and crew also benefit from the significantly higher payload of the new model. For example, more fuel can be carried, which means that longer distances are possible in operations and emergencies.

The first H145 helicopter with a five-blade rotor was converted for station service at the DRF Luftrettung MRO facility in December 2020. Since then, DRF Luftrettung has continuously added more H145s with five-blade rotors to its fleet. Mannheim is the 14th station to receive a helicopter of this type.

The Mannheim station was founded on July 1, 1986 and is located at Mannheim Airport. Christoph 53 is operational from sunrise (7.00 a.m. at the earliest) to sunset and is manned by a pilot, an emergency doctor and an emergency paramedic. The Mannheim helicopter is an indispensable part of emergency rescue in the region around the industrially densely populated Rhine-Neckar conurbation with over two million inhabitants in the border triangle of Baden-Württemberg, Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate. In 2022, the Mannheim air rescue service was alerted to 1,118 missions.