St. Louis Downtown Airport Is Hub of Medical Flights Serving St. Louis Hospitals

By Carmelo Turdo

St. Louis Downtown Airport, with its location just a few miles from some of the nation's best hospitals in downtown St. Louis, has become a hub of medical flights in recent weeks. BK 117B-1 airlift helicopters known as KidsFlight 1 and KidsFlight 2, along with a Pilatus PC-12/45 KidsFlight 3, are based at the airport and serve St. Louis Children's Hospital. Arch/Air Methods BK-117B-2 and Air Evac Life Team Bell 206L-1 Long Ranger helicopters land and refuel after local flights. Last weekend, two flights landed at the airport, and waiting ambulances were used to transport patients to St. Louis area hospitals. On Saturday, a Cessna 414 from Buffalo, New York arrived and later took off to return home. On Sunday, a Cessna Citation flown by Air Ambulance by Air Trek also delivered a patient and later took off. The increase in medical flights to St. Louis Downtown Airport is a tribute to the excellence of St. Louis medical facilities, and the ideal location of the airport.