The air ambulance that slid off the runway in Maple Creek in 2011 has been repaired and is once again ready to fly.
While the plane was being repaired, the Government of Saskatchewan lent one of their three executive aircrafts to the service. Now that the air ambulance is repaired, politicians can have their plane back.
However, going without one executive plane has saved the province money. Cabinet ministers took fewer flights in 2012, and the NDP are suggesting the government’s plane could remain in air ambulance service.
Across Saskatchewan, the demand for air ambulance service has increased sharply, even with the introduction of STARS. The number of government ambulance flights in southern Saskatchewan has actually increased by 15%.
The air ambulance slid off the runway in January 2011 after a wheel got caught in a ridge of snow while the plane was landing.
The plane was then shipped to Red Deer for repairs, which cost nearly $2 million and were covered by insurance.
