Lack of black box grounds Bulgaria’s medical helicopter

Bulgaria’s only medical helicopter is temporarily out of service, according to a report by bTV, citing the ministries of health and transport.

The reason for the suspension was an expired permit to fly without a Cockpit Voice & Flight Data Recorder (CVFDR) installed, the so-called black box. The permit expired on November 12.

The last rescue operation was on November 10 – an injured person from Sandanski was transported to St. Ekaterina Hospital in Sofia.

Eight months ago, bTV reported that the new medical helicopter arrived with eight irregularities found. Among them was that the black box software was not installed and not certified.

The then-Minister of Transport, Georgi Gvozdeikov, admitted that there were still steps to be taken before the device would be operational.

“This certification process will continue until the end of March,” he said at the time.

Since then, the deadlines have changed several times – to the beginning of April, to the middle of May, and so on.

During that time, the General Directorate of the Civil Aviation Administration extended the period in which the helicopter could fly without the black box.

“At the moment, the helicopter is not in operational readiness due to the completion of the installation and certification procedure of the recorder of flight information and conversations, the Ministry of Health said.

It said that the black box is licensed, but not installed.

According to the report, the manufacturer said that it is “a matter of days” for the helicopter to be fully equipped.

The Ministry of Health said that until then, a military helicopter will respond if necessary.

(Archive photo: Health Ministry)