[Provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport]
[Provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport]

The Seoul Regional Aviation Administration under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the Korean National Police Agency's Police Human Resources Development Institute announced Wednesday that the three agencies will sign a memorandum of understanding at the institute to improve aviation operational safety.

The MOU is designed to prevent aviation accidents and support the safe operation of helicopters through mutual cooperation, including the sharing of aviation safety information. Particularly, pilots of dedicated emergency medical helicopters — known as "doctor helicopters" — will be able to use the Korean National Police Agency's flight simulation training devices to strengthen their capacity to respond to emergencies and crisis situations. Doctor helicopters, which carry advanced medical equipment and emergency medicine specialists on board, are often called "flying emergency rooms."

Under the agreement, the three agencies plan to cooperate on four fronts: supporting doctor helicopter pilot training using flight simulation devices (all three agencies); sharing aviation safety information and airworthiness technical data for safe helicopter operations (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport); coordinating the designation and renewal of the Korean National Police Agency's flight simulation training devices (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korean National Police Agency); and providing technical advice and education for the maintenance of emergency medical service kits installed on Korean National Police Agency helicopters (Ministry of Health and Welfare and Korean National Police Agency).

Jeon Hyeong-pil, head of the Seoul Regional Aviation Administration, said the MOU would help strengthen doctor helicopter pilots' ability to respond to abnormal situations such as adverse weather conditions, and that joint safety inspections with the Ministry of Health and Welfare would be conducted to improve flight safety. "We will also spare no technical support — through aviation safety information sharing and the provision of airworthiness technical data — to ensure that doctor helicopters can operate safely," he said.

Airworthiness technical data refers to all technical guidelines, standards, design documents and maintenance instructions needed to maintain and certify the airworthiness of aircraft, engines, propellers and their components.

Lee Jung-gyu, director of public medical policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said the three agencies would pool their respective expertise to enhance doctor helicopter pilots' crisis-response capabilities, support safer operations and patient transport, and protect the lives of the public.

Park Hyeon-su, head of the Police Human Resources Development Institute, said the institute would actively put its flight simulation training infrastructure to public use to improve doctor helicopter pilots' real-world crisis response capabilities and contribute to public safety.

The three agencies said they plan to continue pilot education and training and aviation safety information exchanges following the MOU, and to keep working to improve the operational safety of doctor helicopters so that critically ill emergency patients can be transported more safely.


hss@heraldcorp.com