AFTS Stretchers & Loading System

The AFTS (Australian Flight Test Services) stretchers and stretcher loading system were developed in Adelaide and first installed in B200 KingAirs around 1988.

The electromechanical stretcher loading pedestal has a screw thread and electric motor which raises and lowers stretchers on a detachable platform, allowing them to be easily loaded and unloaded from an aircraft with a cargo door.  The pedestal and platform fold up and stow easily in the cabin with minimal intrusion into the cabin and have minimal impact on weight and balance.  The current AFTS system will load patients up to 180kg.

There are two interchangeable strethers mounted in a tandem configuration on the starboard side of each of our aircraft.  Either stretcher can be loaded or unloaded independently of the other.  This means that a critically ill patient, usually in the forward stretcher position, can be unloaded first or last, as desired by the medical team.  Alternatively, a second patient can be loaded into the forward position even when the rear stretcher berth is occupied.

The AFTS system is installed in our B200C KingAirs and in all of our Pilatus PC12 aircraft.  The stretchers have drop-down legs which enable them to be wheeled around outside the aircraft but have additional wheels to aid manouverability within the aircraft when the main undercarriage is folded up.