Metro Aviation, which specialises in air medical transportation services and helicopter completions in the United States as a GPMS certified installer, is working with GPMS International to pursue an STC for Foresight MX, a leading health and usage monitoring system (HUMS), on the EC145 platform.

“It's been a great experience working Foresight MX certification and installation projects with Metro Aviation, and we're thrilled to expand the relationship to include the EC145,” says John Byus, GPMS's director of sales, Americas. “As an operator, MRO and completion centre, no one knows the platform better than Metro.”

Byus continues: “Nearly 75 per cent of the EC145 fleet is flying in public safety or air medical configurations today. Aircraft availability is critical for these operators as the lives and safety of the people they serve are dependent on their ability to fly when needed. With Foresight MX, there is a tremendous opportunity for operators to improve the safety and efficiency of their operations, while improving their service rate as well.”

MD Milton Geltz adds: “Our end game is not only to utilise Foresight MX for post flight analysis, but to alert ground crews in real time using the Outerlink IRIS FDM and satcom system.”

The FAA has granted an STC for Foresight MX on the Airbus AS350 B2 platform. Additionally, GPMS announced it has contracted with a HEMS operator to certify Foresight MX on the H145 and is working with Metro Aviation for certification on the EC145 platform.

“Airbus Helicopter models like the AS350/H125 series are the largest and fastest growing model in our installed portfolio,” notes Byus. “As operators are learning about Foresight MX and how transformational it is, they're reaching out and asking for us to expand our STC portfolio to their models. There are over 1,300 EC145/ H145s flying today, and most of them do not have HUMS. We've been hearing from these operators that they are very interested in our solution, and we are privileged to be working with them, our certified installer network and with partners like Metro Aviation to deliver it to the market.”

Since the initial certification on the Bell 407GX series in 2019, GPMS has received STCs on various models, including the Bell 407 analogue, Bell 429, Bell 212, Bell 412 series, MD 530F, Airbus H125/AS350 B3, Mi-8/17/171 and the UH-60A. GPMS teamed with Pathfinder Aviation, a utility operator in Alaska, to complete the AS350 B2 certification and to bring predictive HUMS to the nearly 1,200 B2s flying today.