DRF Luftrettung has become the first organisation in the global civil air rescue sector to fully digitise all technical operations processes, from pilots' pre-flight checks and maintenance work orders to asset retirement and the final archiving of technical documentation. By doing so, the German aeromedical organisation sets new standards within the helicopter industry and demonstrates how a well-designed digital transformation can fundamentally reshape an entire technical flight operations organisation.

Exactly one year ago, DRF Luftrettung introduced the systems required for this digital transformation, with AMOS serving as the central backbone of the whole project. The objective of the implementation was to digitise the entire technical operations process.

Until then, processes within the CAMO and the maintenance organisation had remained largely paper-based. Technical logbooks and journey logbooks were kept manually on paper before being digitised at a later stage. Static interfaces between systems, which did not provide real-time data, limited the flexible and dynamic processing of information.

With an ambitious digitalisation project, DRF Luftrettung successfully implemented end-to-end digital workflows covering every relevant process step, from HeliEFB, FleetPlan and AMOS eTL through CAMO processes and maintenance operations to digital archiving in ROAM.

Since then, data capture, processing, approval and archiving have been carried out entirely digitally, in real time, directly from the cockpit and the maintenance hangars. Both flight crews and maintenance personnel now operate in a completely paperless environment.

“We didn't want to just digitise existing processes, we wanted to rethink them,” says Roman Morka, accountable manager Part-145 and chief technical officer of DRF Luftrettung. “The implementation of AMOS, including eTL, HeliEFB, FleetPlan and ROAM, was not merely a technological decision but a strategic milestone. As a pioneer in the helicopter industry, we are taking a decisive step toward the future.”

The decision to implement AMOS was based on several factors. AMOS is considered the market-leading maintenance management software solution and is used worldwide by numerous CAMOs and maintenance organisations throughout the aviation industry. In addition, integrating AMOS created synergies with other systems already in use at DRF Luftrettung, enabling new opportunities for connected, seamless information exchange and process integration across different operational areas.

“This new digital ecosystem for flight and technical operations is not an add-on for us; it represents a paradigm shift,” says Krystian Pracz, CEO of DRF Luftrettung. “This digital platform enables us to manage technical and operational processes in real time, optimise maintenance planning and deploy resources more efficiently. The data we gain helps us to further enhance safety while achieving operational excellence.”

With the successful completion of this digital transformation, DRF Luftrettung continues its success story while demonstrating to the aviation industry how digital transformation can be successfully implemented.