AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, announced the delivery of a second AW139 intermediate twin helicopter featuring a highly customized exterior painting scheme to a South African private customer. This aircraft is also the 600th AW139 delivered by AgustaWestland to the global market and it will be used to perform corporate and passenger transport in South Africa and Emergency Medical Services utilizing a quick convertible EMS pod. In addition it will be utilized to perform the unconventional mission of performing aerial game counting to monitor the populations of wild animals typically found in African game reserves.

The AW139 has the provisioning to fit floatation gear, a cargo hook and is fitted with an infrared camera system to assist pilots in poor visibility conditions (clouds and/or dust for landings on unprepared surfaces). Equipped with a particle separator system, the performance of the AW139 allows for operations anywhere in Africa and in hot and high conditions. This AW139’s cabin is provided with a mix of six backward/forward-facing seats with the possibility of quick reconfiguration on a mission by mission basis. The unique aircraft’s paint scheme provides a glimpse of Southern African art and cultural tradition with its primary focus on nature.

Andries Wannenburg, Head of Region Eastern and Southern Africa, said “We are delighted to deliver this highly tailored AW139 helicopter to our customer. Its ‘one of a kind’ combination of style and multirole mission ability provides further evidence of AgustaWestland’s outstanding capability to supply customized solutions as well as the unequalled versatility offered by the AW139 design.”

Agusta Westland press release