After more than 40 years in the skies, one of the East Anglian Air Ambulance’s (EAAA) most experienced pilots has completed his final shift flying Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS).
Captain Dave Surtees, a Touring Pilot and Type Rating Examiner with EAAA’s aviation partner Babcock International, carried out his last HEMS flight with the charity on 21 June, ahead of his 65th birthday – the UK’s regulatory upper age limit for Commercial Air Transport pilots.
While stepping down from operational flying, Captain Surtees won’t be hanging up his flight suit just yet. He will now focus on training the next generation of HEMS pilots, guiding newcomers through the intensive line training required to deliver critical care flights for the charity.
A long career serving others
Captain Surtees joined the East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) in 2003, following 24 years of service in military and police aviation. Over the years, he has flown thousands of missions to help deliver critical care to patients across Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.
In February of this year, he logged an impressive milestone of 10,000 flying hours, many of which were spent on HEMS taskings.
He was also one of the pilots who supported His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales during his time training and flying with EAAA from 2015 to 2017.
Reflecting on his career, Captain Surtees said he would “enormously miss” the direct impact he and the wider EAAA crew had on patient outcomes.
“Some people wouldn’t be here today without EAAA pilots taking the skills, medicine and equipment out to the incident site,” he said.
“During my time flying HEMS taskings with EAAA, I have seen some people in real dire straits and, as a team, we’ve been able to have an impact on their outcome.”
“It’s been superb”
Captain Surtees said flying had been his life’s ambition from a young age.
“I’ve no idea how many takeoffs and landings I’ve done over 40 plus years, but it has been an utter joy. I wish I could steal some time and start all over again. I don’t have the words to describe my HEMS career, other than it’s been a big team effort – and it’s been superb.”
EAAA’s Chief Executive, Matthew Jones, praised the retiring pilot’s decades of dedication, “Thanks to his skills and expertise, alongside those of EAAA’s clinical crew, many hundreds of people have been given the best chance of survival and recovery, and many families are still together today.”
EAAA responds to around 2,000 emergencies every year, deploying critical care teams by air and road to deliver hospital-level treatment directly to patients in life-threatening situations. The service is entirely charity-funded and provides cover 24/7 across the region.
