Historic First: Civil Jet Lands on Australian Road for Medical Emergency in the Outback

For the first time, a civil jet landed on an Australian road for a medical emergency mission in the Outback.

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Landing on roads by airplanes is not so unusual, but it is predominantly carried out by military aircraft. However, civil operations are virtually non-existent, with the exceptions being emergency landings. But in the Australian Outback, the situation is different: there are several approved and marked roads to serve as landing strips.

Given that it has dozens of isolated communities, Australia, through the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), has a medical team ready to fly to remote locations, often landing on unprepared dirt or gravel strips.

The newest plane of the RFDS, the Pilatus PC-24 jet, already has the capability to operate on these unconventional runways, but it had never operated on a road, which was an operation hitherto only carried out by propeller-driven civil planes.

And this week, the RFDS carried out its first operation with the PC-24 on a road, which was closed by emergency teams and also featured an operation from its smaller turboprop sibling, the PC-12.

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Here is the video:

The Pilatus PC-24 program made its maiden flight in May 2015 and obtained certification from EASA and the FAA in December 2017, prior to its first delivery to a customer in February 2018.

Configured for 6 passengers, it has a range of 3,704 kilometers at a cruising speed of 815 km/h. It is powered by two Williams FJ44-4A engines.

It has a length of 16.85 meters and a wingspan of 17 meters, with a maximum takeoff weight of 8,500 kg.