CHAPTER TWENTY

AIR AMBULANCE IN SARAWAK

Take strong winds and heavy rain, add the mist rising up out of the jungle of the Borneo highlands, and there’s the potential for some ‘interesting’ flying conditions. Neall Ellis found exactly that as a lone pilot at the controls of a relatively unfamiliar Bo-105 helicopter. The situation was further complicated by air traffic controllers, whose Malaysian-accented English was not always easily comprehensible, and the knowledge that civilian lives were at risk.

Martin Steynberg, chief executive of the South African-based Titan Aviation, and his partner, Seton Kendrick, had negotiated a contract to supply helicopter-based emergency medical services (EMS) in Sarawak. Before they could fulfil the contract, however, a local AOC was needed. That’s where Sarawak’s Layang Layang Aerospace came into the picture. The work would be undertaken in the name of that company, using its AOC. Likewise, Layang Layang would make available its established facilities at Miri, Sarawak’s second city, in the north-east of the state and the centre of Malaysia’s oil industry.

Nellis flew out to Miri in December 2007 to start up the operation. Altogether, Titan had bought four ex-German Bo-105s earlier in April. Two went to Sarawak and two to South Africa. The intention was to base one of the Bo-105s at Miri and the other inland at Sibu, in the far west of Sarawak.