AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, is pleased to announce that Life Star of Kansas has signed for an AW119Ke helicopter during a ceremony at the Air Medical Transport Conference in San Jose, California, today. The helicopter will be used for medical transport and will be delivered to the customer in December of this year. Speaking at the ceremony today, Lou Bartolotta, Executive Vice President Sales for North & South America said, “For over 20 years, Life Star has served the State of Kansas with an outstanding commitment to safe, state of the art air transport. We are pleased to have been selected by Life Star to provide an AW119Ke as the newest addition to their fleet.”

Life Star Executive Director Greg Hildenbrand said, “We selected the AW119Ke because it is the best value, best performance helicopter for our mission. The cornerstone of Life Star’s mission is to provide the highest quality care in a safe manner. This aircraft allows for full-body, patient access and will be equipped with the latest safety technology, including night vision goggles, terrain and nearby aircraft warning systems, satellite tracking, weather and advanced communications. With this new platform, we will continue to fulfill our mission with expanded capability and improved performance.” The AW119Ke will be based at Freeman Field in Junction City, Kansas. Life Star is a not-for-profit corporation in business since 1988 with bases in Lawrence and Osage City, in addition to its headquarters at Forbes Field in Topeka. It operates under its own Part 135 operating certificate and has been accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS) since 1996.