Augusta Westland A119 Koala Single Turbine Light Helicopter, Italy

The A119 Koala single turbine light helicopter, developed and manufactured by Augusta Westland of Italy, first flew in 1995 and entered service in 2000.

«The A119 Koala single turbine light helicopter has the capacity to transport seven passengers plus the pilot».

The helicopter design work was carried out at Augusta’s Cascina Costa di Samarate engineering centre. Augusta continues full-scale production, marketing and support of the Koala. Denel is marketing the helicopter in South Africa and has set up an assembly production line and a spares and components manufacturing facility to support the main production line in Cascina Costa.

Augusta Westland has expanded the facility of its US subsidiary, Augusta Aerospace Corp in Philadelphia, for the manufacturing and assembly of the A119.

The first US manufactured Koala made its maiden flight in June 2005.

Multi-role helicopter

The A119 Koala single turbine light helicopter has the capacity to transport seven passengers plus the pilot or slung loads up to 1,000 kg. The maximum cruise speed is over 260 km/h (140 kt) and the maximum range with seven passengers and their luggage is more than 650 km (350 nm).

The helicopter can be equipped for search and rescue, medical evacuation, surveillance and passenger and light cargo transport roles. For firefighting, the Koala can be fitted with the Simplex 323 Fire Attack System, which has a 1,200l capacity.

The Koala is in service in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Italy, Turkey, UK, USA and Venezuela. Over 90 orders have been received including: Tex-Air of Texas, USA (transport for the offshore oil and gas industry), Eli euro of Italy (firefighting), New York Police Department, Pennsylvania State Police, Mississippi air ambulance, LinFox of Australia, J.B. Air of Canada, Omniflight of Wisconsin, USA (EMS), Saint Alphonsus Life Flight in Boise, Idaho (EMS) and Careflight of Australia (EMS).

«In 2007, Augusta Westland launched the AW119 Ke (Koala enhanced) helicopter».

Recent orders include two for J.V. Gokal of India (ordered in June 2005), two for Phoenix Police Air Support Unit, USA (ordered September 2005), one for Skyline Helicopters, Canada (ordered February 2006), two for Kaan Air of Turkey, five for the Mexican Government (ordered July 2006), one for SEACOR Holdings/Era Helicopters (ordered in December 2006) and five for the Libyan Red Crescent (ordered in December 2006).

AW119 KE (Koala Enhanced)

In February 2007, Augusta Westland launched the AW119 Ke (Koala enhanced) helicopter. The AW119 Ke has an increased maximum take-off weight of 2,850 kg and new main rotor blades with a higher rotation rate for additional lift and temperature operating range.

Fumigacion Aerea Andaluza (FAASA) of Spain is the launch customer for the new helicopter, with an order for six placed in March 2007, for firefighting. The AW119 Ke can be fitted with the Simplex Model 323 Fire Attack System, with a water capacity of 1,200l.

Augusta Westland AW139 Medium Twin-Engine Helicopter, Italy / UK / USA

The AW139 (formerly known as the AB139) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, which was developed by Bell Augusta Aerospace, a joint venture of Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc. of the USA and Augusta Westland.

In November 2005, Bell announced that it was selling its stake in the AB139 programmer to Augusta Westland. Following the sale, the helicopter was renamed AW139 in February 2006.

The AW139 is available in both civil and military configurations and is capable of carrying up to 15 passengers or 2,500 kg (5,500 lbs) useful load. Civil applications include passenger transport, law enforcement and utility and offshore oil support. Other roles include search and rescue, cargo lift and fire-fighting.

Key players

A number of international companies are involved in the programme including Pratt & Whitney of Canada, Honeywell of the USA, PZL Swidnik of Poland, Liebherr of Germany, Kawasaki of Japan and others.

The AW139, along with the BA609, is built at Augusta’s Final Assembly Line in Vergiate plant, Italy. An AW139 assembly line has been built at the Augusta Aerospace Corporation plant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The first AW139 built at the new facility was delivered in December 2006.

All parts and components for both lines come from the same sources and the aircraft is identical whether assembled in Italy or in the USA.